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defaulttwig · 1 year

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Avatar’s First Braids

Neteyam x gn!reader

Summary: Just like Spider, you have your own avatar, though you had to wait until you were older before you could use yours. As such, to celebrate your new blue, the Sullys want to braid your avatar’s hair.

Word Count: 4.9k

A/N: Help, this was supposed to focus on Neteyam and it's just one big fic about his siblings instead, but I promise there's still a crumb of Neteyam. I really took my own liberties with some Avatar lore so it’s probably inaccurate lol. This is platonic/romantic, wrote it kinda down the middle. Neteyam is aged up to 20 here.

At fifteen years old, you could not describe the bizarreness of watching a tiny body, your body, float in an amnio tank. Your very own avatar, steadily growing at a pace beyond the growth rate of native Na’vi, twitched in a dreamlike state. Tiny blue hands curled around a chubby blue face. Small tendrils of nerves floated out of the base of the skull, surrounded by baby hair. You could not believe what kuru looked like before the braids. A bit creepy, if you had to be honest.

You weren’t alone. Spider stood right next to you with Tuk in front of you two. Lo’ak and Kiri stood on his other side and Neteyam was right next to you. His forearm rested against the glass of the tank as he leaned into your space, tilting his head to observe the baby. The Na’vi half of your group each had a rebreather in hand, inhaling from it every so often. All six of you watched the small twitches, mesmerized by the little thing.

It had only been a few weeks since you watched it grow from an embryo. You had been the most fascinated watching the rapidly growing progress of the avatar, coming nearly every day to watch. It led to Neteyam and Spider hanging around, then Lo’ak and Kiri, and finally Tuk could not be left out. You could stand around all day and watch. This was your avatar.

“So,” Spider spoke over the silence. “What if it’s an outie?”

Lo’ak scoffed, already biting back a smile. “Bro, that’s what you’re thinking about?”

Spider gestured to the umbilical cord attached to the baby’s stomach. He huffed in defense of himself. “You guys all made fun of my avatar having an outie.”

You snapped your head in his direction, offended that he lumped you up with the rest of them. “I didn’t.”

“That’s because you’re you, Spider.” Neteyam teased, leaning forward past you to make eye contact. He pressed the rebreather to his mouth for a breath. “Besides, yours was the first with an outie belly button.”

Tuk looked down at her stomach and traced her belly button. “I can’t imagine having my belly button out like that.”

“It’s not that weird,” Kiri countered. “Only at first, it was.”

“Bro, look at you. You’re fine.” Lo’ak reached over and stuck his finger in Spider’s belly button, earning a shout and a smack to the hand. Spider laid his palm over his belly button while Lo’ak laughed and straightened himself. “You know we didn’t mean it.”

Yeah, when Spider first entered his avatar after decantation, the immediate thing the Na’vi children noticed was the protruding belly button. It was then you realized that none of the Na’vi had outies, unlike humans who could have either innie or outie. While they could excuse the appearance of an outie on a human, given the many physical discrepancies between humans and Na’vi, they teased Spider for having one on his avatar. Just another physical difference on top of eyebrows and five digits on the hands and feet of avatars.

You rolled your eyes. “Can we stop talking about belly buttons?”

“Okay,” Neteyam agreed. He gestured with his hand above the amnio tank. “How long does this take, again?”

“Five years,” a voice behind caused you all to turn. Norm approached your group with a grimace. “Why are you all hanging around the test tube avatar?”

“So why couldn’t this avatar,” Tuk pointed at the tank while inhaling from the rebreather, ignoring the question, “grow at the same time as Spider’s? Wouldn’t that save time?”

“Unfortunately our resources are limited and we don’t have the space to incubate multiple avatars at a time.” Norm made a small gesture for which you all parted to let him through. He looked at the baby avatar, then at you six. “Now, can you please go hang out somewhere else? The lab is not a playground.”

Per his suggestion, you dispersed from the lab. The Sullys set the rebreathers back on the rack on their way out, Tuk bouncing happily ahead of you. Spider brought the conversation back to belly buttons and you groaned, telling him to move on. Doing what any teen did, you all flocked to another area of the camp to bother someone else.

Five years. That’s how long you had to wait.

+:+:+:+:+

You were going to throw up.

Well, you thought you were. Nerves knot your stomach tight, worsened by the butterflies fluttering in it. Your heart hammered in your chest. You laid your hands over your stomach, twiddling with your fingers. The overhead lights were bright. So, so bright.

Currently, you waited on the link bed to make your first connection. Sure, you waited years for this moment, but now that it was right in front of you, you dreaded it. Would it hurt? Would it make you more nauseous than you already were? In the coming weeks, you pestered Spider about the sensation. You had to know every little detail. Question after question, the routine grew old fast and Spider eventually repeated the phrase don’t worry about it. Not the best advice you received.

To make matters worse, your friends were not there with you. Kiri and Lo’ak had grown too tall to comfortably stand in the lab with you and Lo’ak didn’t want Tuk’s unfiltered mouth to raise more panic in you. Spider decided to wait with them outside your avatar’s lab room. All to take in the first impression.

“Take it easy,” Dr. Max Patel said from the computer system beside you. His eyes darted across the screen. “You’re going to be fine when you wake up.”

You turned your head to face him. “Are you sure?”

A great question to ask the guy who’s been doing this longer than you’ve been alive. He glanced your way. You took that as your answer and returned to your original position, focusing on controlling your breaths. The link bed wasn’t entirely uncomfortable, at least.

When Max faced you to grab the hood of the bed, you moved your hands to your sides. He gave you a few more words of encouragement and you nodded, half listening. Really, you just didn’t want to throw up right now.

When the hood closed, you noticed how heavy you breathed. Your stomach twisted tighter and you screwed your eyes shut. You could do this. You could do this. As another wave of nausea hit you, you held your breath.

“Movement behind the eyelids.”

Someone called your name. “If you can hear me, can you open your eyes?”

You obeyed, opening them only to flinch and squeeze them closed. Damn, who turned up the brightness here?

“You okay?”

“The light is bright,” you supplied a bit groggy.

Behind your eyelids, the intensity of the lights lessened. Your eyes fluttered open carefully, finding that half the room’s lights had been turned off. You breathed a sigh of relief, stomach still in knots. A moment passed before you realized just where you were.

You sat up, immediately falling back down.

“Take it easy.” One of the scientists set a hand on your arm. “We’ll get you out of here as soon as we’ve conducted some fine motor tests.”

You blinked, ears twitching. Twitching. The sensation prompted you to cautiously raise your hand, brushing your fingers over your ear. A pointy Na’vi ear. It flicked back at your touch unconsciously and you let out a breathless laugh. This was weirder than you expected. Not to mention how seamlessly you connected to your avatar. Spider really could not have prepared you more for this.

“Can you wiggle your toes for me?”

You couldn’t say how long those tests took. A few minutes. An hour. It went by too fast but simultaneously dragged on longer than your poor heart could take. You wanted to get up and go go go but you didn’t want to fall over and embarrass yourself. When you got the okay, left alone to change out of the gown into something more comfortable, you made your way to the door.

The door hissed open, letting the bright light from the sun filter in. You squinted and raised your hand, blue as the sky, over your eyes to shield them. Your tail flicked at the minor inconvenience you felt.

“Whoa, check you out.”

You looked to your left. Lo’ak and Spider leaned against the wall of the shack. Kiri sat on the ground with her hands behind her as support. Beside her, Tuk sat cross-legged, picking at grass. No Neteyam, though. He had gone earlier that morning on a hunt with his father.

You smiled, dropping your hand to your side. “Like what you see?”

“You’re like us, now,” Tuk said, dropping her blades of grass.

Kiri smiled up at you. “How do you feel?”

“Weird.” You looked behind you. Your tail had a mind of its own, though you still felt every flick of it as though it were you commanding it. “Really weird.”

“You get used to it.” Spider shrugged and pushed off the wall. He was much shorter than you now, still human.

Lo’ak made a sound. “I can’t believe you can’t use your avatar right now.” His hand smacked at his thigh. “Do you know what we could be doing if you didn’t get hurt?”

“It was your recklessness that got us here.” Kiri looked between the two of them, moving to stand. “Spider’s avatar should take a few days to heal, then we can do the plan.”

Tuk pouted. “This was supposed to be the perfect first impression.”

“I know. I know.” Spider rolled his eyes. “Few more days and then we’ll pretend that there weren't any hiccups.”

You watched Tuk stand. She stood a little taller than Spider, shorter than the three of you. It was weird being taller than her. Well, now only Spider was the only drastically short one of your group. At least, until he got back his avatar.

“Should we get going?” Kiri asked before she took in the state of your hair and gasped. “Your kuru!”

“What about it?” You attempted to look behind you without any luck.

Kiri came up to you, directing you in front of her. “We have our braids around it as protection. Your hair is just wild and it's unguarded.”

“Oh.”

“Here, I’ll braid it. You sit down.”

“Okay.” You lowered into a cross-legged position with Kiri behind you.

She gathered a bunch of your hair, combing her fingers through the roots of it before beginning to twist strands over and around the kuru. The rest of your hair swept over your shoulders, tickling your skin as it did. Given how your avatar’s hair had not been groomed in its time in the amnio tank, it became wildly the length of the kuru. The long hair weighed heavy on your shoulders.

Tuk stood beside you, watching Kiri braid your kuru. You glanced at her out of the corner of your eye, wondering what she could be thinking about. She’d aged to a dreaded thirteen, filled with mischief and still figuring things out. Despite the age when other children sought their independence, she still clung to your ragtag group, not entirely eager to break off to her own friends. Things haven't changed much, you all had to keep a more keen eye on her, given the number of bad ideas she could come up with and act out on, now. Like right now, where her expression twisted in deep thought.

“Can I braid the rest of your hair?” She gestured to her shoulder-length braids.

You turned your head to see, only for Kiri to guide your head back into a straight position. “Don’t move.”

You found no harm in that. “Sure, Tuk. But I’m not sure I want it this long.”

“I can cut it.”

She pulled her knife out. The second she walked toward you, you flinched away from her. As sweet as she was, you didn’t exactly trust a child with a knife by your head.

Kiri forced you to keep still, catching you mid-cry. “Don’t move,” she repeated with an edge, not so much bothered by Tuk’s eager knife-wielding as she was your jerking.

You raised your hand, unable to properly block Tuk’s oncoming knife.

Lo’ak took initiative and intervened. He towered over Tuk and grabbed her wrist. “Are you crazy?”

Tuk pouted, fighting against his hold. as her voice raised in a whine. “I know what I’m doing.”

He took the knife from her. “Let me do it.”

Tuk stomped her foot. “I wanted to do it.”

“You can still braid my hair.” You tried to mediate. It did the job as she pouted off to the side but relented with crossed arms. She stuck her tongue out at Lo’ak. A shiver crawled up your spine from Kiri’s braiding. “You can make them look like yours.”

She smiled. An excited nod and she grabbed the ends of her braids, twisting them between her fingers. “Yeah, we can look like twins.” She spoke to Lo’ak, “don’t cut higher than the shoulders.”

“Sure.” He nodded, hunching down to his knees.

Lo’ak took bundles of your hair away from your face and held it away. He worked away the knife. Already, your head felt lighter without the extra weight. You relaxed, letting the siblings work at your hair.

Spider took his own knife out from where he stood. Since he had nothing better to do, he opted to busy his hands by flipping his knife in hand. You watched him flip and catch it with ease.

He hummed, “you gonna bond with an ikran?”

Your face twisted in horror. “Uh, no. I just got my avatar.”

Kiri agreed. “You need to take baby steps.”

“Yeah, or your avatar will end up like Spider’s.” Lo’ak teased.

Spider rolled his eyes with a nod. They weren’t necessarily wrong.

After Lo’ak had cut the hair on the other side, Tuk took her rightful place by you. Not before Lo’ak returned her knife and she sheathed it. She made some comments about your hair being softer than hers, a result of the amniotic fluid you guessed.

In a moment of excitement, by now half your hair had been braided, Tuk blurted. “you’re going to look just like one of us!”

You half-paid attention, too focused on your tail. It smacked at the ground, batting away a small amount of dirt with each lackluster slap. The sight hypnotized you, drawing you out of your stupor with each flick. You could not describe the sensation of having a tail, let alone one acting on its own. Reaching out, you brushed your fingers over your tail. Goosebumps littered your whole body as you shivered. More sensitive than you would have expected.

Your ears flick at the sudden commotion Lo’ak and Spider made. Looking up from your tail, you watched the duo roll on the ground in a playfight. Another of Spider’s attempts to catch Lo’ak off guard and win a fight against the Na’vi.

“You’re going to like being in your avatar,” Kiri said. Her hands neared the end of your kuru. “Once you get used to this, of course.”

You hummed, tearing your gaze from the boys. “Yeah, I won’t lag behind when we’re out.” You touched your palm, tracing the lines etched in it. It tickled. Your neck began to hurt from holding still for so long. “Too bad Neteyam isn’t here.”

“His fault,” Tuk said, her voice just a touch hurt and uncaring. She wanted her big brother here as much as you did.

Kiri finished the braid, tying a spare thread around the end. She ran her fingers down the braid once, admiring her work and ensuring it was compact. Her tongue clicked, quick to remind Tuk. “You know how he is with dad. He can’t say no.”

“But this is a big deal.” Tuk weaved her hands through your small braids, letting them swing around your face. “Done.”

You set your hands on the ground and pushed yourself to a stand. Your body swayed momentarily, supported by Kiri’s hands on your back. You thanked her, still getting used to the extra weight to balance. Then, you turned away and shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Kiri would not buy it. She stepped around you to face you with her hands on her hips, head cocked in disbelief. “Don’t downplay this. Your first time in your avatar is important to you. So, it’s important to us.”

You relented, knowing better than to deny the obvious. Instead, you smiled and took her comment to heart. “Thanks.”

Kiri smiled back, nodding once in finality.

“Are you guys ready to go?” Lo’ak called back, getting off the ground.

Spider also pushed off the ground. Both of them were covered in dirt. “Yeah, we need to get going before the eclipse.”

Kiri glanced back your way. You nodded. “I’m ready.”

“Finally.” Lo’ak took the lead, waving his hand for you all to follow. “Don’t fall behind.”

He took off running. You followed, all laughing at your wobbly run. Despite his tease, Lo’ak never strayed far. The group of you dodged and weaved around humans and avatars alike until you reached the edge of the human camp. Then, the real fun began. Daring across the forest for the first time as a Na’vi. It was exhilarating.

Tuk, ever the youngest, called out to you guys as you ran across treetops. “Wait up!”

You leaped across a gap between trees, laughing loudly while your body buzzed with adrenaline. This was something you could get used to.

+:+:+:+:+:+

For the fifth time, you skidded to a halt, bending at the waist while your shoulders rose and fell rapidly. Taking big, deep breaths, you now understood why the scientists wanted you to take it easy. Not only did you stumble and nearly crash into anything and everything, but you also dragged the trip on longer than it needed to be.

Spider caught your hunched form out of the corner of his eye, hands on your knees and panting like an animal. “Hold up,” he called up ahead.

Lo’ak groaned, grabbing an overhead branch as he turned around. “Really? We’re going to get in trouble if we’re late. We’re almost there.”

“Don’t wait up.” You waved your hand dismissively, only for it to fall back to your side. “I’m good.”

The group took the time to wait five minutes, nonetheless.

By the time you made it to Hometree, the village had been gathered for mealtime. Heads turned in your direction, some Na’vi greeting you. They were certainly kinder than other times you’d come by. As you walked past to find the rest of the Sullys, you leaned down to Spider and spoke in a hushed whisper.

“This is weird.”

He shrugged. “Told you they treat you differently when you’re in an avatar.”

You stood straight and did your best to ignore the stares to the back of your head.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find the family. Neytiri and Jake smiled from where they sat, chatting amongst themselves while Neteyam lent them an ear, preparing the meal. Tuk ran ahead of you, crying about how starved she was. Lo’ak and Kiri soon sat, you and Spider sitting farthest.

“You’re late,” Neytiri said.

Lo’ak nodded his head in your direction. “A certain avatar lagged behind.”

Neteyam looked up from beside his mother. The Na’vi’s eyes widened, taking you in. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. His tail swished behind him. You merely smiled from across the fire. When he did find the courage to speak, his father beat him to the punch.

“You look different.” He smiled, looking you in the eye. It felt weird to be at eye level with him, too used to him towering over you. “How’s your first run?”

“I think I’m handling it okay.”

Spider laughed. “No way. You ran like a baby using their legs for the first time.”

“It was for the first time,” Kiri replied and shook her head. “We probably shouldn’t have rushed out.”

Jake raised his brow. “That bad, huh?”

Plates were passed around. Tuk dug into her food while you all talked. No doubt this was from today’s hunt. While you ate, Spider sat back and talked with Lo’ak and Kiri.

“You will learn,” Neytiri had told you between her own mouthfuls. “Jake had been no better.”

“And that’s without the years of training.” Jake shook his head. “Those were the days.”

After eating, you split off with Neteyam to catch up. The others understood for the most part to not follow, distracting Tuk before she could tag along.

For the most part, you walked normally. Without the pressure of running, you could balance yourself correctly. Neteyam was quiet, never moving past your side, letting you set the pace. You reached a section of Hometree untouched, quiet, and tucked away from the rest of the clan. When you stopped, Neteyam looked your way.

“Are you tired?”

“No.” You shook your head, tickled by the concern he displayed. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Just checking.” He followed your lead and sat down beside you, overlooking the view of Pandora. His tail flicked patiently. “So, you think about what you want to do, now that you have an avatar?”

“Honestly-” You leaned back on your hands, humming in thought. “I never thought this far. It didn’t seem like this would ever happen. I mean, I had to wait five years.”

“Yeah.” Neteyam looked away. “We can figure it out on the way. There’s so much you’ll be able to do now that you have a kuru.”

“I guess.” You reached behind you, bringing your kuru braid forward. The tendrils of nerves opened, wiggling in the open air. It was an out-of-body experience, watching nerves that belonged to you wriggle in the air, feeling the sensation wave at nothing and near tasting the air deep in your nervous system, but unable to believe this was yours. You set the braid aside. “First, I have to master how to run. Can’t get anywhere around here by just walking.”

“We’ll build your stamina.” He smiled and nudged your arm with his elbow. “Then, we’ll get you an ikran.”

You grimaced. “Not for a while, I hope.”

“Certainly.” Neteyam grew quiet again. You turned to look at him, finding him already staring at you. His face was caught in a mesh of wonder and awe. He furrowed his brows. “Who did your hair?”

You blinked, thinking of the braids. “Tuk.”

“Tuk cut your hair?”

Oh. “No, that was Lo’ak.” You cringed, thinking how close Tuk was to committing to the act. “She almost did. Why is it bad?”

He laughed shortly. “It’s uneven.”

“How should I know?”

“Here.” Neteyam got up, moving to get behind you. “I’ll fix it.”

You realized he was undoing your braids in order to do so. “Tuk won’t like you ruining her hard work.”

He hummed. “She won’t know.”

“She’ll know.”

Neteyam’s fingers weaved through your tresses, unwinding them. Loose waves of hair cascaded around your face. Tingles crawled up your spine from the care and gentleness of his hands. You may have even closed your eyes to fully take in the sensation.

You twisted the braid of your kuru as he held your hair. His knife hissed against its sheath, your rather sensitive ears twitched at the sound. Inhaling deeply, you relaxed your shoulders. You trusted Neteyam, more than Lo’ak or Tuk, to cut your hair.

Truthfully, Lo’ak had done a moderately good job cutting your hair on the spot. Neteyam did not have much to work with, only fixing the small, unnoticeable imperfections in your hair. You wondered if it was an excuse to just touch your new, soft hair. His siblings seemed to love your hair.

“There.” Neteyam put away his knife. “Now, it looks even.”

You let out a half-hearted puff of air. It didn’t seem like that big of an issue. “Thanks.”

You heard the smile in his response. “You’re welcome.”

He took his time putting your hair into small braids similar to Tuk’s. With each new bunch of hair gathered, his knuckles would brush along your neck. Pinching your fingers over the braid of your kuru, you fought against the goosebumps that crawled along your skin. A rhythmic smack hit the ground, constant and unwavering. Out of the corner of your eye, you realized it was your tail, not Neteyam’s. It gave away your flush of emotions.

Your ears twitched and you forced another even breath, looking at the orange sky above.

Eclipse approached soon. Far in the distance, you spotted the flapping wings of wild ikran, flying as a group to another perch. Pandora, as much as you didn’t belong here, was your home. You could not imagine trading it for Earth, which you heard from Norm looked nothing like this. Pollution and greed had stripped away the beauty it once had, he said, but it had nothing compared to this moon light-years away. You agreed with his sentiment.

Soft puffs of air fanned the baby hairs on the back of your neck. You contained your shivers, letting your eyes flutter closed. His fingers were nimble, expert in the craft. Body heat permeated from him onto your back, the proximity throwing your heart to the ikrans. Your tail smacked at the ground playfully, betraying the excitement in you despite your trying to quell it. Neither of you spoke of it.

When all was said and done, Neteyam returned to your side. You let go of your kuru and run your hands through your hair, appreciating the work done by him. This time, your tail swayed anxiously as you looked him in the eye.

“Does it look okay now?”

His eyes roamed from your hair to your face. He was quiet, the sunset’s reflection casting a warm glow over his blue skin. A small smile broke onto his face and he nodded. “You look perfect.”

You returned the smile. Your tail once again whipped to and fro in excitement from the flattery. Neteyam’s smile grew, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a way you found endearing. Neither of you said anything, turning away at the same time to face forward. The light of day retreated over the horizon.

“Eclipse is bound.” Neteyam pushed off the ground with a grunt, standing on his feet. He extended his hand down to you. “Come on. Can't let you stay out too late in your avatar.”

You agreed and took his hand. With little effort, he managed to pull you onto your feet. In the five years you’ve waited for your avatar to grow, Neteyam gained muscle fit for his physique. The twenty-year-old warrior still stood taller than you, much like his father, but the height difference was not as drastic in your avatar.

On your way down the Hometree, you bumped into Kiri.

Neteyam regarded her. “Have you seen Spider-”

“He went back to the camp a while ago.” She looked between you two. “Better get going if you don’t want to be out late.”

“Right.” He nodded to her. “Thanks.”

You waved goodbye to Kiri and walked off with Neteyam.

Sticking to the high ground, you both made your way back to camp. The journey was quiet, apart from shared looks and quiet laughter, for no other reason than you both feeling a strange high. You returned to camp safely and sound as Neteyam walked up with you to the avatar sleeping quarters. Eclipse had just encased the land in darkness and outdoor lights illuminated the camp’s shacks. You stopped by your building, turning to him with a hand raised.

“I can walk the rest on my own.”

He smiled. “Can you?”

You rolled your eyes, unable to contain your own smile. You gently pushed at his shoulder. “Go. Or, will you get lost?”

He accepted your teasing with a flick of his tail. “I think I know my way.”

“Alright then.” Your expression softened. You had to stop or else you’d never let him leave. “Goodnight, Nete.”

His smile widened. “Goodnight.”

You waved him off before walking up the steps and into the shack.

Some avatars were still up. Others sound asleep. You made your way to the unclaimed hammock, reserved for your avatar, and climbed into it. Your smile remained even as you closed your eyes.

When you woke up in the link bed, moments passed before the hood rose and you could sit up. Max looked from you to the screen. “Was being an avatar scary like you expected?”

You shook your head, smiling again. “It was weird, but I liked it.”

Norm walked into the room. “Yeah, and next time, don’t stay out late without a head’s up. All avatars have to be accounted for.”

“I’ll remember that.”

You left after bidding them goodnight, heading to your sleeping quarters. For the rest of the night, you lay there, touching the base of your skull. You could feel it, the kuru, like a phantom. Turning onto your side, you closed your eyes.

Today was a good day.

#neteyam x reader #neteyam x you #neteyam imagine #neteyam fanfiction #avatar x reader

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vandnana · 1 year

Text

In Love With The Enemy [Prologue]

Prologue: Playing Scientist

pairing: lo’ak x female turned na’vi reader

summary: during the time when jake became toruk makto, you were quaritch’s youngest and most valued soldier, the daughter he never had. but, pandora changed you and you died during the final battle, betraying quaritch and wishing that you had been able to do more. now, you have been reborn again, as a na’vi, tasked with quaritch’s new military avatar crew to kill Jake Sully. taking advantage of this second chance at life, you help the Sullys and fall in love along the way.

genre: fluff, angst

highlights: grace being like a mother to you and jake being like your father figure while quaritch is in his toxic dad era

warnings: mentions of blood, war, violence, adult language

word count: 6,265

note: thank you to everyone who has been so excited for this series! i wasn’t originally going to make this prologue, but i really wanted to establish the reader’s old life before she was revived and how close the reader was to jake and grace first before diving into the rest of the series!

[chapter 1] [chapter 2]

The forest of Pandora holds many dangers, but the most dangerous thing about her is that you may grow to love her too much.

You were the youngest in the regiment back then, too young for war and far too young for what was in store for you in Pandora. But, Quaritch took you in when you were a child. You had no family, no home, and no promise of a real future. He had seen himself in you: cunning, willing, strong, and unafraid. You were everything he could have hoped for in a daughter, but you were real. His prodigy. And not a day went by when you didn’t live up to those expectations. You loved being with Quaritch. He had become your father and he always thought that nothing could ever change that.

Then you met Grace.

You were only a child when you first met her, and having been around army dogs your whole life, meeting her was a breath of fresh air, air that you never knew you were missing.

She was hesitant at first. You were Quaritch’s kid, an actual carbon-copy of the worst trigger-happy moron out there. Yet, even with all your harsh military training, you maintained an unmistakeable innocence in your eyes, an innocence that Grace couldn’t ignore when you asked her to teach you about Pandora, about the Na’vi, about the avatars. You were curious, genuinely curious and for Grace, although she would never admit it, it was refreshing too.

“You know, for a little Marine, you’re actually pretty smart.” She was watching you with her elbow resting on the lab table as you took notes of your findings, your eyes glued to your notebook

You didn’t look up at her, “I don’t know about that. I just did what you told me to.”

She put a hand on top of your notebook, halting the pen in your hand, “What I told you to do was simply look at the sample.”

You looked at her with confused eyes, and she sighed, taking the notebook out of your reach.

Holding it up, she displayed your work in front of you, eyes flitting from your notebook to you, “I did not tell you classify your observations and make a surprisingly accurate diagram of the snaketree’s cellular levels.”

You nodded, acknowledging your mistake. You had disobeyed a direct order and unsure what else to say, you apologized on instinct. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

Grace looked at you in awe, laughing suddenly, “This isn’t military training numbnuts. What you did was good work, real good work. I’m impressed.”

“Are you serious?” You were still in disbelief, but the feeling in your chest was one you’d never had before.

She smacked you lightly on the head, “Yes! You’re smarter than all the idiots in your squad, especially your father. And from now on, don’t call me ma’am, okay?”

You rubbed where she had hit you, smiling as you nodded, “Yes ma- I mean, yes Grace.”

Suddenly, you understood what you felt in your chest. It was different from the feeling you would get when you were praised by Quaritch. This feeling, it was like being recognized by a mother. Yes, you were that cunning, willing, strong, and fearless girl that Quaritch adored, but you were also smart beyond what you were told and you had an admirable moral compass that put the rest of your squad to shame.

Grace never let you forget that.

Still, you were Quaritch’s daughter, and being his daughter meant that you had to take on the role of who you always were. His perfect soldier.

The more time you spent on Pandora, the more you began to see past the façade you let yourself believe for so long. The mission was never about finding diplomatic solutions or building alliances. It was about destruction, money, and humanity’s wretched twist on glory, a misguided glory that Quaritch was more than happy to fulfill.

When Jake came on board, your father saw that potential, a soldier in with the wrong crowd, the thought invoking a vile taste in his mouth. Yet, with all his personal notions aside, there was an opportunity to be poached.

Jake was the key to the glory he was chasing.

Quaritch spared no time asking you to summon Jake. He was going to offer him a deal, one that he simply couldn’t refuse. You obliged to the simple request, but your heart was heavy. Six years you had been on Pandora and relations with the indigenous were only getting worse, and with Jake, your father finally found a reliable mole to fulfill his duties.

You made the short journey to the lab, the way so embedded into you that your legs were working on pure muscle memory. It had been a while since you had been there, too busy with AMP suit duty and perimeter watch to have any time to stop by. You commanded attention instantly walking through the door, the scientists greeting you warmly as you brushed past them.

Jake, who looked unabashedly lost among the labcoats, immediately looked your way, and seeing you in your full camo, he almost seemed relieved, the pristine, formalin smell of the lab permeating his nose was enough to suffocate him as he sat there, bored out of his mind.

“Jake Sully?” You approached, your demeanor intimidating at first, but betrayed by the smile on your face when you looked past him, waving.

He looked behind him to see Grace with a disapproving look in her eyes, “Shouldn’t you be playing soldier, little girl?”

“I am playing soldier...unfortunately. Which is why I’m here. I need to borrow yours.” You replied, turning your gaze to Jake.

Grace sighed, “Go ahead and take him. He’s pretty much useless here anyway,” Jake looked up at her, but he said nothing, merely scoffing.

“Don’t worry. I’ll return him to you as soon as possible.” You said sarcastically, putting your hand out in front of her and extending your pinkie, “I pinky promise.”

You laughed as she rolled her eyes at you, pushing your hand away, “I’d actually rather you keep him, but Selfridge seems to think I need another idiot with a gun.”

“Come on, play nice, Grace.” You reasoned.

She crossed her arms, lowering her eyes at such a hopeless request, “Just get the Marine out of my sight, will you? You’d be doing me such a favor, y/n.”

You glanced down at Jake, who was holding back all the snappy responses that were just at the tip of his tongue.

“Favor granted.” You replied simply with a smile, walking away, Jake following behind you.

As you reached the doorway, you halted, turning your head back, “I saw those samples you got earlier. I’ll sneak back here after dinner, just don’t look at them without me, okay?”

Looking over her shoulder, Grace couldn’t help but concede to a grin, “Wouldn’t dream of it, but it’s Max you really have to worry about.”

You put a finger out pointedly, your tone stern, “Tell him I’ll shoot him if he touches them.”

Grace chuckled, “Alright, alright miss Marine. I’ll pass along the message.”

With a final wave, you left, navigating through the halls with Jake beside you, “Sorry about Grace. She’s always prickly at first, but she’ll warm up to you eventually.”

“No kidding.” Jake huffed, looking up at you curiously as he kept up with your pace, “Where are you taking me anyway?”

“The Colonel wants to see you.” You replied, the heaviness in your heart suddenly obvious as you walked, the hallway widening out into one of the base’s hangars, the multiple flyers and AMP suits becoming your audience as you passed them.

Jake maintained his inspecting tone, eyes flitting from the path in front of him to you, “So, what are you? A soldier or one of the science sorties?”

“Oo “science sortie” I haven’t heard that one before.” You replied sarcastically, but you maintained your placid grin, “I’m y/n.”

He nodded, but still he continued, his tone so arrogant that it almost felt insulting, “Okay y/n...you didn’t answer my question. Playing soldier and playing scientist are two completely different games.”

You scoffed, making eye contact as you pointed to his legs, “And what’s your game? Are you a Marine or are you a cripple?”

He was stunned, having no clever retort, resorting to a simple shrug, “May be out, but you never lose the attitude.”

Having heard all the military cliches, you chuckled, “Look, there’s no game here. Not on Pandora. These RDA goons and this greedy company think they’re on the winning side of a pointless war. To be honest with you, I’d rather be doing what you’re doing.”

“So why aren’t you?” Jake asked, stopping to face you.

You halted, meeting his gaze, your expression visibly troubled.

“Lieutenant Quaritch.” A deep voice called from behind you, and you turned receiving the soldier’s salute.

“Warren...what can I do for you?” You asked.

The soldier pointed to one of the flyers just ahead, your best friend Trudy waving to you as your eyes stopped where she was, “I’ve been relieved of doorman duty. Trudy wanted me to tell you the spot is open for the taking.

Turning your attention to Jake, you asked, “How do you feel about being a doorman? Trudy flies all your “science sorties.”

Immediately, Jake agreed, “I’m your guy.”

Warren saluted again, acknowledging Jake with a nod before returning to the flyer.

The disgruntled expression on your face only lasted for a moment, but Jake saw it right away, his eyes softening as he looked at you. He wasn’t all that convinced of his position being covetable or about this war you had talked about, but he did understand the pressure you were under.

Choosing to lighten the mood, Jake took an opportunity to tease you, clearing his throat before speaking, “Lieutenant Quaritch, huh? That must get you a lot of dates.”

Somehow, Jake knew that it was exactly what you needed, wanting to avoid the conversation in front of too many prying ears. You gave into your own laughter, you responded snarkily, “Probably the same amount as you, old man.”

Jake scoffed, “Old man? I’m not that much older than you.”

Your eyes darted upward as you put a finger to your chin, your expression filled with feigned wonderment, “Really? I mean, you look like you’ve earned your senior discount with that wheelchair.”

He chuckled to himself, amused as he retorted, “I’m sure my senior discount doesn’t do your kids meal justice.”

You threw your head back in another fit of laughter, “I’ll give you that one Sully. For now.”

Stopping, you outstretched your arm, “The Colonel is right through there.” You pointed, seeing your father bench pressing in the makeshift workout room the soldiers created. Although its black, metal bars made it feel more like a prison.

Jake thanked you, and you nodded, putting a fist out, which he proudly bumped.

“Hey Jake,” You began, and he looked over his shoulder, waiting for what you had to say.

The seriousness in your voice was stark as you gave him a curt expression, “I meant what I said earlier about a pointless war. Whatever my dad offers you, he’ll mean it. My dad takes care of his own. Just don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He squinted at you inquisitively, “Wasn’t planning to.”

You turned your heel, looking over your shoulder before leaving, “See you around, old man, unless you want to go back to your retirement home on earth.”

“Go crawl back to your crib, won’t you?” He yelled after you, and with your back turned, you flipped him off, his chuckle becoming fainter and fainter as you walked away.

You stopped by Trudy and she stopped what she was doing, getting up from her crouched position, “Hey, hey what’s wrong? You’ve got that look in your eye.”

Looking back, you watched as Jake talked to your father, “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling, Trudy.”

Trudy put a comforting hand on your back, “Why don’t we go to the caf and raid the dessert pantry? That always makes you feel better.”

“Can’t hurt.” You replied, the two of you hastily walking to the cafeteria.

You felt slightly better because of Trudy’s efforts, but that bad feeling still plagued you. When night fell, you walked to the soldiers’ quarters, making your way to the far end of it to find your father in his room.

“What did Sully say, sir?” Keeping your nonchalance, you showed no heightened emotions, standing perfectly as your father turned his attention to you.

He had a smirk on his face, which gave away his answer, “We’ll have these savages by the balls in no time.”

“What exactly are you having him do?” You pushed on, maintaining your stoic expression.

Quaritch walked over to you, “I thought about sending you instead. Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind seeing as that Augustine bitch is trying to brainwash you into believe her tree-hugging bullshit.”

Still, you gave him an unreadable expression, waiting for him to continue what he was saying.

“But, you don’t have an avatar. Sully can gather intel that we need from the inside. Understand?”

“Yes, sir. I understand.” You stood with perfect posture as silence enveloped you.

He smiled at you, putting a hand on your cheek, “Now, go on to bed baby girl. We got a long day ahead of us.”

Could you blame Jake for taking the deal? He didn’t know that he was really making a deal with the devil.

Jake was like you at first. Ignorant. He didn’t fully grasp the world he was entering into, clinging onto the comfort of what he had always known. He was a Marine who figured it was just another hellhole, another tour that would add to his long list of sins.

He would get a reversal, his old life before a big hole was blown right through the middle of it. Reporting intel was a cakewalk to Jake, and if that meant the promise of his legs back, then there was nothing to lose.

Three months. That was how long Jake had to negotiate the Na’vi’s relocation.

It didn’t take long for Grace to find out that Jake was talking to the Colonel, Max rushing in to deliver the news to you all, his mannerisms frantic as he threw his hands up. Grace had her usual cigarette in her mouth, and in her burning rage, she almost bit down on it, her teeth barely sinking in as she grit her teeth.

Taking it out of her mouth, she let a puff of smoke escape and you all felt her rage as her smoke cloud engulfed you all, “Those idiots have no business sticking their noses in my department.”

The rest of you were silent, listening as she continued her rant. Jake was untouchable, strangely chosen by the Omaticaya, and unfortunately, her only way back in with the clan. You could see her thinking as her eyes went to the ceiling, her forehead furrowing as she considered what her next move was. Seemingly, she had found the answer after her mental contemplation, immediately ordering everyone to gather everything up.

Quickly, she walked over to her station, her eyes scanning the contents of the table.

You followed after her, “What are you doing to do?”

She handed you her cigarette, her hands at work as she began to organize what was in front of her, “We’re getting out of Dodge. I’m not about to let your brainless father and that ass-hat Selfridge micro-manage this thing.”

She had handed you the cigarette so haphazardly that you almost grabbed the part that had been lit, cinging it on your belt once she gave it to you, “So, where are we going?”

She stopped, facing you with a warning look, “We? You really think daddy dearest is gonna let you out of his sight? He already gets that ugly vein in his forehead every time you do anything that involves me.”

“Let him have his ugly vein because I’m not staying here if you’re not.” You protested, searching her eyes for approval, but she only looked at you with a pessimistic expression.

She put a hand on your cheek, her steely tone betrayed by the concern in her eyes, “Don’t push it. “

You placed a hand over hers, “You can’t change my mind. So, just tell me. Where are you thinking of moving everything?”

Grace groaned at your stubbornness, letting go of her hold on your face as she pulled her tablet out to show you, “Site 26, up in the Hallelujah Mountains.”

Your eyes lit up as an idea sprang into your mind, “I have to go.” You said abruptly making your way back to the hangar, your eyes avidly searching for your father.

When you caught sight of him, he was about to get into an AMP suit, but the sound you calling him made him jump back down, his head turned in your direction.

He immediately gave you a toothy grin, pleased to see you as he put an affectionate hand on your back, “Is my little girl keepin’ everyone in line?”

“I’m practically walking intimidation to these people, sir.” You joked, but he took you seriously, looking at you with such pride.

“Nothing wrong with being feared. That’s how we Quaritchs get it done.”

“Speaking of getting things done,” He leaned in closer, attentive as he waited for you to continue, “The scientists are about to have a change in scenery. I know you got Jake in there, but let me fly with Trudy. With me around too, you’ve practically got your dream team.”

Facing you, he put his hands on your shoulders, his smile even wider than before as the corners of his eyes crinkled in pure regard for you, “Taking initiative. I wish I had ten more like you.”

You smiled back, “So, I have your approval?”

“You’ve got my approval,” His tone changing ominously as he stared down at you, “But don’t let these limp-dick science majors fool you. There ain’t nothing worth saving here. You know the mission, y/n.”

Hugging him, you let the smile on your face fall, the graveness in his tone sending a whirring ache in your stomach. “You know me better than that, dad. I’m your daughter.” You reassured him, your voice so convincing that even you had almost believed the lie you were feeding him.

He leaned back, looking at you with a pleased grin, “Damn right you are.”

“After all this time, we finally get to fly together. Ain’t that a bitch.” Trudy said, handing you bags as you set them into the back of her flyer.

“Better late than never.” You hummed, overjoyed to finally be away from the base.

After everything was secured, everyone’s avatars were loaded on, their impossibly large stature so lifeless that they almost seemed like statues. Flying through the mountains, you all looked around in awe, Trudy laughing at you all as your mouths gaped open, too consumed in absolute wonderment to even process her laugh. This wasn’t the first time you had seen the mountains, but that didn’t make them any less remarkable. Landing, you all wasted no time making yourselves comfortable, picking out your bunks, setting your stuff down, and inspecting the entire place.

Over the next few weeks, Jake stayed true to what he was ordered to do, diligent and detailed with every report after his excursions using his avatar. Sometimes, he would do them alone, always making sure that no one was watching, but other times you were right beside him, cringing as he attempted to make sense of the Omaticaya.

After the first month, you could sense Jake’s weariness as he closed his video log, his finger nervously hovering over the button to send it in.

Walking over, you placed a hand on the table, “Yeah, I’d be hesitating to send that in too. You look like crap, old man.” You snickered, hoping to subside his worries with your joke.

He met your eyes, annoyed, “Whatever, baby face. Don’t you have a kids meal to eat or something?.”

“I had to check on my favorite old guy. You know, make sure you didn’t keel over or anything.” You pouted, earning a scowl from him.

Taking a seat on top of the table, you tilted your head at him, What’s with the hesitation? You usually just send things in and walk away.” You prodded.

He pressed the button, not wanting to explain himself, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lowering your eyes at him, you scoffed, “It’s not a crime to like it here. Should I remind you how earth is practically just a ticking time bomb? The core is caving in on itself as we speak.”

“I want my legs back.” He replied, but even he wasn’t convinced by his tone.

Getting up, you let your arms fall to your sides, “You have legs.”

“Not always.” Jake snapped back.

“You know Jake, like it or not, blue’s always been your color.” You hinted, leaving him to contemplate your words as you went back to your bunk.

He was fighting hard denial, falling in love with the forest little by little, and everything it was giving him. Jake didn’t realize how much he missed running, hell even walking was a blessing. Things were hard at first, but with Neytiri pushing his limits, he couldn’t even complain, too grateful that he was even able to get back up from falling.

And suddenly, Jake finally had something to lose.

You watched as everything was backwards for Jake, the world he had thrust himself into for a simple mission becoming the reality, while his waking life had become the dream. Pandora was changing him, just like it changed you.

Learning the ways of the Omaticaya was the catalyst, but then there was also Grace, and Norm, and of course, you. While he had found unlikely friendships with Norm and Grace, you had become close friends since the day you first met.

In truth, you reminded him of his brother, Tommy, the science guy, the smarter one. But Tommy didn’t have that callous edge that Jake’s military background imprinted on him. It was the one thing about Jake that Tommy could never relate to.

You could though, and you did.

Every time.

You were practically cut from the same tree, and despite your usual dizzying scientific discussions, Na’vi lingo and occasional latin-rooted vernacular, you actually understood him without really trying.

You were younger than him, younger than everyone, a constant cause for concern because aside from all your one-liners and jokes, Jake felt responsible for you. You were better than him in so many ways, and he respected you, cared about you, more than he cared about himself.

And the longer you were around Jake, the more you got to know him, and the easier it became to see his internal struggle. He didn’t know who he was anymore, his concept of loyalty faltering as the burden of what Quaritch had asked him had finally laid stones in his heart.

Jake’s three months had gone by in a blink. To the disappointment of your father, his last report was more than three weeks from that deadline. Your father had called him back to base, Jake’s lag stirring his intolerance for deviancy, but you intercepted it, offering to talk to him yourself.

You waited for Jake by his pod, looking out at the Pandora forest through the window and taking in the tranquility of the scene before you. Beyond the clearing were the endless flora and fauna and amidst the air and soft dirt, were speckles of life in the form of the local insects and animals. You peered outside in awe, wondering what it would feel like to explore the forest without the confines of your feeble humanity.

Behind you, you could hear the pod open, stirring you away from your thoughts. You turned around, Jake’s expression completely contemplative as he noticed you.

You gave him an equally reflective expression, your mind carrying an unwieldy weight as you dreaded the conversation that daunted the both of you.

He pulled himself out of the pod, but you remained where you were. “My dad is starting to question your resolve. Will Neytiri and her people move from HomeTree?”

You knew the answer already, and Jake buried his face in his hands, “They don’t want anything. There’s nothing to trade, but what could they possibly want from us? Lite beer and blue jeans? They’re never gonna leave, and I don’t blame them.”

You hung your head low, “It’s not wrong for you to like it here, Jake. You didn’t do anything wrong. My father roped you into this mess.”

He lifted his head up from his hands, his expression so burdened and beaten down, “I can barely remember my old life y/n. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

You leaned forward, putting comforting hands on his shoulders, “You know who you are Jake.”

He looked up, his eyes begging you to tell him who that was. “You’re one of The People now, and this forest is your home. You can protect it still.”

Jake never cried, but he almost did as he avoided your eyes, “You once told me not to make a promise I can’t keep.”he let out a defeated sigh, “Should have taken you seriously back then.”

“What matters is what you do now. Saving them, that’s all that matters. I’ll tell my dad what he wants to hear, but you know what you have to do, and you’re the only one who can do it.” You kept a meek smile, patting his shoulders.

He was silent for a moment, nodding as he took in your words, “Whatever happens, I’m not bringing you down with me. Who knows what your dad will do when he finds out you’ve gone rogue.” His face was etched in concern, his worry for you embedded in the lines of his forehead.

You shrugged, your expression grave as you frowned, “A father protects. It’s what gives him meaning.”

You paused, looking down at your clasped hands as you reminisced about the life you had back on earth, “I owe Quaritch my life, you know. My real parents didn’t want me and no one else did either. For a long time, he was all I had, and I thought that everything he did was to protect me.”

You met Jake’s eyes again, your expression fierce with determination, “But, kids grow up and they realize who their parents are and they either accept that or fight it with all they got. I choose to fight.”

Jake’s expression softened as you continued on, your emotion suddenly overwhelming as you felt your voice almost break, “You, Grace, Trudy, Norm, you guys are my family. I got your back Jake. No matter what.”

He put a hand on your head, a genuine smile on his lips, “Don’t worry about me. You’re the baby. It’s my job to protect you.”

You shook your head, “You’re impossible, you know that?”

“What can I say?” He sighed, shrugging, “I’m a stubborn old man.”

The next day, the bulldozers came and not long after that came the destruction of HomeTree. There was nothing you all could do except sit and watch as Quaritch ordered the columns to be brought down, the Na’vi scattering in waves of blue as they witnessed their home engulf in flames, the cataclysmic reds and oranges muting the once green landscape and settling into the soulless smoke cloud that rose above them all, its presence like a deadly omen.

Grace, Norm, and Jake were detained immediately, and just like Jake had said, he protected you, pretending you had no involvement in anything that happened. You, Trudy, and Max did you all you could to help them escape when you got the chance, and as you approached her flyer, Jake stopped, urging you to leave so you wouldn’t get caught.

You refused, insisting to come with them, but Grace had already made the decision for you, pulling you into a hug, she caressed your hair, “You need to stay here, baby girl.”

You could feel tears fall down your face as you wrapped your arms around her, savoring her embrace before letting go, unwillingly giving in to the urgency of the situation.

As they entered into the hangar, you ran back to the heart of the base, hiding while soldiers charged toward them, your father taking the lead. Later that night, you found out Grace was dying and you cried alone. You were beyond consolation, your grief consuming your heart, the ache tormenting you as you sat in the base, unable to do anything for her. You had seen death. Countless times. But not being with her for hers felt like you were the one you had been killed.

It was hard to feign your innocence after you found out that it was your father who shot her, and it became damn near impossible when Jake told you she had finally passed. Still, you were strong, playing the perfect soldier until the final battle came.

Fleets of ships entered into enemy territory, rows and rows of them creating an ugly, gray hoard amidst Pandora’s natural beauty. When you had entered, warriors on their ikrans swarmed, shooting left and right and bringing down the smaller flyers one by one.

You were with your father when he gave you the order to shoot Trudy down, her flyer adorned with war paint as she targeted your father’s ship, guns blazing.

“I won’t do it.” You refused outright.

In all your life, you had never been defiant, stunning him only for a second before he rose his voice at you, “Shoot her down, y/n!”

You got up, gritting your teeth as you spoke, your contempt silvery in your tongue, “I won’t kill my friend.”

Seething, he turned away from you, “If you won’t, I will.”

Before you could stop him he armed all pods, sending endless shots toward Trudy. You were frozen, unable to peel your eyes away as you watched her rotor explode, her flyer plummeting further and further down to the ground until she was engulfed in a deadly explosion. Still, you were agonized from the pain of losing Grace, but your loss became insurmountable watching your father murder your best friend.

He paid no mind to that pain as he continued his plight, too focused to care about what he had done to you. All felt hopeless suddenly, your heart breaking as you watched more destruction unfold before you. Ikran and Na’vi were being shot in the air and below you men and women were being shot down, the fits of fleeting light coming from the gunfire of the AMP suits still visible from so high up.

Then, as if a prayer had been answered, ikran were flying in swarms from all directions, their masses attacking ships and taking down sentries. On the other side of you, you saw Jake, landing on top of one of the ships, unleashing grenades and jumping off to land on the biggest ikran you had ever seen, Toruk.

You watched as Toruk maneuvered through the arching rock columns that surrounded the Tree of Souls and descended quickly to your father’s ship. With a loud thud, Jake was above you, unleashing grenades. Seeing him, your father steered the ship right, rupturing his balance as he fell backward. The grenade exploded, triggering the oxygen breach alarm. You grabbed an exo pack as you ran to the ship’s hatch, your father yanking you to the ground, his gun already in his hand as he stationed himself in the opening. Rushing, you took hold of the ladder, pushing past your father toward Jake, who was barely holding onto the ship, a missile already in his hand.

Jake threw the missile into the rotor as Quaritch fired a shot, the bullet meant for Jake hitting you as you blocked its path, the blood pooling in your chest instantly. In that moment, Quaritch dropped his gun, running toward you with his arms outstretched, his attempt at catching you futile as you already fell backwards.

A father protects. It’s what gives him meaning.

What Quaritch had failed to be, Jake fulfilled, scooping you into his arms as you both tumbled downward, tightly wrapping himself around your dying body to brace you from the impact. When you had finally fallen to the forest floor, you were heaving, your vision fading as he towered over you.

He was holding onto your limp body, tears streaming down his face. “No, no. You’re gonna be fine, y/n.”

You had never seen him cry before, and that made everything feel all the more heart-wrenching. There was no hope to save you.

You smiled at him like nothing was wrong, “You know me better than that Jake. I’m a scientist. I don’t believe in fairy tales.”

He let out a weak chuckle. It was the same thing that Grace had said to him when she lay dying, making his heart twist even more. He was in utter shock, his eyes suddenly drowned with tears while hugging you, as if doing so would bring back the warmth that was slowly leaving your body.

You stared at him, piecing your final words together as you could feel the creeping darkness approach. Putting a hand on his cheek, you finally knew what you wanted to say. “You’re a good man Jake. Thanks for being my family.”

“Y/n, you’re gonna be alright.” He cooed, his heart breaking as your face paled and paled.

Taking one final breath, you smiled, “You’ll make a great dad someday.”

“Y/n.” Jake’s voice quietly inaudible, but your eyes went blank and your hand dropped from his cheek.

Your body was cold and bloody as he held onto you, and as he tried so desperately to search for a remaining light in your eyes, he was only filled with more pain, an irrevocable pain welling inside of him, his heart blocking his mind from making sense of the fact that you were really dead.

You reminded Jake of his brother Tommy, and just like him, you were dead too. He felt like he had failed you, the pain and rage stirring inside of him becoming a strength as he went up against your father.

“Give it up, Quaritch. It’s all over.” Jake yelled out, his call becoming a perfectly timed distraction as Neytiri tried to free herself from the weight of a dead thanator.

“Nothing’s over while I’m breathing.” the Colonel spat, his words imbued with his pure hatred and scorn, “You killed my little girl, Sully. And for that, death is too good for you. I want to see you suffer.”

“It’s your fault she’s gone!” Jake hissed.

“She was my daughter, and I should have never trusted her with you. You think you’re one of them?” So blinded by his own rage, the Colonel blamed Jake for your death, the fuel of his grief giving him an unholy boost in his fighting spirit.

“Time to wake up.” Walking to the pod, he broke the window, filling the oxygen isolated space with Pandora’s air. Panting, Jake could feel his link go in and out, his body convulsing in response to the breach.

When Quaritch had turned back to Jake, he laughed maniacally, enjoying as he watched Jake struggle. Grabbing him by the hair, he pulled Jake’s knife out, “I’m gonna love cutting you up with your own knife.”

Jake even in his lightheaded state, managed to keep his resolve. Hissing aggressively as Quaritch inched and inched toward his neck, Jake could feel the imminence of blood being drawn until he stopped, Quaritch’s hands going limp, dropping Jake and the knife. As fast as the first came, so did a second, dealing the final blow. Neytiri watched as Quaritch died, satisfied as he became void of life, the misguided glory he was chasing dying with him.

Those who weren’t loyal to the Na’vi were sent back to earth, and in his last ditch attempt to save you, Jake had taken you before Mo’at, hoping that Great Mother still held your life in her intricate balance.

Mo’at pleaded for you underneath the Tree of Souls, the Great Mother’s roots glowing around your lifeless body, but dimming quickly.

Lifting her head up, Mo’at looked at Jake, choosing her words very carefully, “In this time of great sorrow, she cannot be saved Jake Sully, but the Great Mother still holds her in her heart. She is not gone from us forever.”

Neytiri held him as he stared ahead blankly, so struck by his grief that he hadn’t truly grasped what Mo’at was saying. When he had shaken himself out of his state, he picked your body up, burying you where they had buried Grace’s human body, the Omaticaya chanting to Eywa as Jake, Norm, and all the other scientists gathered to say their final goodbye.

And in that final goodbye, you too had become a relic of the past, but your memory lived on as Jake continued his life, your death a painful reminder that he must always protect his family.

You had told him something long ago, something he would never forget.

A father protects. It’s what gives him meaning.

Author’s Note:

My lovers,

how did you all like that prologue? please let me know in the comments!! i’d love to know what you think :) writing grace and trudy’s death hurt me in my soUL, ITS NOT THIS ANGSTY FOR THE LATER PARTS I SWEAR

again, i wanna thank you all for waiting so patiently for this series!!

part 1 is almost done as well and im beyond excited for you guys to see reader and jake reunite :) AND OFCCC READER AND LO’AK MEETING OMGGGGGG

for all those who wanted to be part of the taglist, you’re listed below

if you want to be tagged in the next parts, please comment on this post or send me a dm or an ask with your blog name!

Love,

Nana <3

taglist: [some of the blogs didn’t allow me to tag some blogs, but i wanted to include them anyways!] @fifty-shades-of-mischeif @pretty-npeach @tonni30 @kirikuki @itsemy01 @persondoingstuff @23victoria @soobinsrose @starjane312 @valentineoxox@imthefunniestpersonalive @justlillythinking @mae-is-crazy @scarletrosesposts @paniniii @bloodyziggy @mister-police @mrs-sullys-blog @niiight-dreamerrrr @promiseofeywa @wilmalovegood @sssspencerrr @mochi-yu @d4rno @lovekeeho @dreama-little-dreamof-me @bammtoli @strawberryclouds22 @neteyamoa @devil-on-acid @a-queen-blr @my-name-duh @mayabritjohn @annoyingstrawberryballoon @0-0h0-0 @glitter-in-my-heroin @katkat1918

#avatar loak #avatar #avatar x reader #avatar way of water #avatar fanfiction #loak sully #loak imagine #Jake Sully #jake sully x reader #loak #nanasavatarfics #nanasloversclan #nanasilwefic!

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teyamsatan · 6 months

Text

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝟙 | ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕀𝕀: 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕝𝕝 𝔹𝕖 ℍ𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕐𝕠𝕦

pairing: Neteyam x f!Human/Avatar Reader

warnings: angst, tragic love trope, the one that got away trope, some fluff, all the feels

wc: 7k words

a/n: surprise??? besties it's been too long, i know, but i hope you enjoy chapter 2 of the 1 x anyone who follows me knows how much this story means to me, and it felt so good to be able to visit it and be inspired for it again. i promise it will absolutely not be as long between this chapter and the next x i can't wait to hear your thoughts! i love you x

to clarify: this series will be following oceans and engines mostly, but both endings will make and appearance and play a part in this story x smooches x

♥ series masterlist ♥ cruel summer ♥ series playlist ♥ masterlist

Honey, when I’m above the trees, I see this for what it is But now I’m right down in it, All the years I’ve given Is just shit we’re dividing up

Neteyam let out a quiet chuckle as his gaze fell onto your unconscious form, splayed limbs over your head and over the edge of the bed, peaceful look on your face as deep slumber still washed over you, even as eclipse has been gone for quite a while. He made his way to the window, where the blinds were drawn, pulled them apart, and watched in shock as that didn’t even begin to wake you. You and Neteyam shared a lot of traits, a lot of similarities bound you together, but your sleeping habits were definitely not one of them.

Amused, he decided to take a different approach, as he got on top of you and started trailing small, peppered kisses over your chest and neck, over your jaw and face, until eventually your eyes fluttered open and widened momentarily as you adjusted to the unexpected scene, until they melted in the mischievous, loving gaze Neteyam knew so well and loved so much.

“This is one way to wake up, I suppose.”

“A good way?”

Your lips met in a kiss, soft and intimate, not at all resembling the boundaries both of you were supposed to abide by, and right in this moment, it didn’t seem either of you particularly cared.

“The best way.”

You thought about it for a second longer, then pursed your lips in mock deliberation.

“Actually, there was another time you woke me up in an even more… pleasurable way, and I can’t say I’d object if you ever wanted to do that again.”

The memory of that morning made blood travel down south as quickly as it took for you to say the words, and he growled in your neck as his canines grazed it, as he watched you shudder under him, as he smelled your sweet aroma filling up the air he breathed.

“Vol, you have to stop talking if you want to get out of this room today.”

Neteyam could hear the smirk in your voice as you spoke.

“Who says I want to get out of this room today?”

“I do, because I want to show you something.”

Showed you all of my hiding spots I was dancing when the music stopped And in the disbelief, I can’t face reinvention I haven’t met the new me yet

Neteyam watched the door of your bathroom, intently listening for the constant hum of the shower to see if he could hear you, as if maybe by listening closely enough, he would be able to have a direct stream into your thoughts, the way it felt like he used to back when you were you and he was him and you were… well, whatever you were to each other. He probably shouldn’t have drank as much as he did - not enough to be fully intoxicated, but enough to know the filter between his mouth and brain was shaky at best, completely gone at worst, and very little good could come out of it. He knew all of that and yet, here he was, unable to stop his feet from moving to the labs, as soon as he felt like he could do so without attracting attention to himself. It was late, and most people were off to bed, so it wasn’t hard to do, even in this small settlement deep in the mountains the Omaticaya were forced to now call home.

When it became clear your thoughts would never make themselves known through the wall, his eyes wandered around, taking in every nook and cranny of this room that was an exact replica of the one you lived in all your life back in Hell’s Gate. He appreciated the humans for how much they cared for you, how much they were intent on making this little corner of the planet as homely for you as humanly possible. This room was loved and lived in; there were stains on the desk, crinkles on the chair, cracks in the walls… there were books and record players, pillows and comforters, plushies and knick knacks that Neteyam knew by heart, that screamed of you and the life you lived, that although not what you wanted or what you truly deserved, shone brightly all around you and illuminated even the darkest corners of the world.

Something caught the corner of his eyes, one of the few things he’s never seen before. A box, hidden deep in the corner beneath your desk, with a neat little label on it that said simply “Neteyam’s box. Do not open!”. If it was any other day, or any other circumstance, if his mind wasn’t clouded with the heady concoction that was way stronger than he remembered and probably the reason humans were as mindless as they were to begin with, he would have heeded the warning clearly showcased on the rectangular enclosure. But it was today, and it was these circumstances and he was intoxicated, so without dwelling on all the reasons he probably shouldn’t, he found himself reaching for it.

It was tiny in his hands, so tiny, it was hard to understand that something this small and this seemingly harmless could knock the breath out of his lungs with enough power to overcome and vanquish whatever self-control he still possessed. So many memories, all fighting for dominion over his consciousness, all painful enough to open every stitch his body’s been working so hard to craft in order to heal him. One memory in particular clearly won, one that’s already been percolating in his mind today, but now was all he could think of anymore. The keepsake he associated with it was missing from the box, which ironically made it stand out even more.

There’ll be happiness after you But there was happiness because of you Both of these things can be true There is happiness

“Mmm.. intrigue. The Omaticayan prince wants to show me something, I guess I have to oblige then.” At the roll of his eyes, you laugh and pull him by the back of the neck until your lips meet again. In these moments, it was easy to forget the reality of your circumstances, the impossibility of your relationship, the hidden aspect to it that made it so no one would ever be allowed to find out.

It’s only been a couple of months since your 19th birthday, and somehow, each day got better. Each day was a reminder that he was the best person that has ever lived, the man of your dreams, the most empathetic, unintentionally charismatic, intelligent, funniest, most beautiful person you knew… each day a dream, until the inevitable forced wake-up call that he’ll never be yours, as soon as you had to pretend in the village, in Hell’s Gate, as you had to watch the matriarchs search for an appropriate mate for him and know there was nothing you could do to stop it.

He wasn't yours to lose. Not in the way you wanted him to be, not in the way you needed him to be. You tried to push the ugly thoughts from your mind as you felt him burying his head in your neck, just breathing you in. It doesn’t matter, you tell yourself. No matter what happened, no one would ever know him like you did, no one would ever be able to understand every nook and cranny of his soul the way you were able to. No matter what happened, he was yours right now. While you still had this, he will always be yours. While you could feel his heartbeat in your chest as he lay on top of you, while your body was moulded by his own and your lips knew to recite each one of his freckles like a prayer, he’ll always be yours.

“You’re not as cute as you think you are, you know?” You snicker at his words, that you may believe if it wasn’t for the way he was almost purring under your touch, or the way he was fully sunk into your body, or the way you could tell he was smiling as he said them.

“Ha! 18 years of you falling for my every whim suggests otherwise, Teyam. Now scoot, if you want me to get ready.”

“So where are we going?” fastening your oxygen mask until it clicked, you made your way out of the living headquarters and were taken aback to see Seze waiting, her soft trills greeting you as she approached, her big frame almost knocking you down as she bumped her snout into your face. “Hey, girl. What are you doing here?”

You yelped slightly as Neteyam took you by the armpits and lifted you so you could mount the banshee easier, before getting on behind you and making tsaheylu, an arm fastened across your chest, pulling you tightly into his own, keeping you close to him. You’ve done this so many times in the 6 years since Neteyam passed his Iknimaya, and despite it all, it never stopped feeling magical, and fantastical and wondrous to you, like it was almost unfair that a mere human could experience such emotions and views, such exhilaration and freedom. You wished your whole life you could one day have your own ikran and really experience it the way one was meant to, but you were grateful for whatever moment you did get, and grateful for Neteyam for always being willing to share these things with you.

“You know the drill, ma Vol. You have to ho-“

“-hold onto you like I’ll never let you go again. I know.” This saying, that he said his father told him on his first ikran ride as a child, became almost a mantra in your life, with every moment you spent in his presence.

Hold on like you’ll never let me go again.

Past the blood and bruise, past the curses and cries Beyond the terror in the nightfall Haunted by the look in my eyes That would’ve loved you for a lifetime Leave it all behind

It was painful, the way the hot water was hitting your skin, in droplets that felt like spikes, in touches that felt like stings. Your mind was scattered after the momentous day that tried you, one which you never expected to live through again.

Neteyam… your ‘Teyam… someone else’s Neteyam. Different, so different and yet… still him. Painfully so. You hoped for more, more of a change, more of a departure - you hoped for a stranger, that could allow you to forget that the person you were looking at, despite adorning some new tattoos and a different hairstyle, was the man who knew you, down to the darkest, most intimate corners of your mind. You hoped that when you looked in his eyes, you wouldn’t see the stars be born and die, you wouldn’t see 21 years of your own life and the life you shared looking back at you. You hoped his stripes, that you could still feel on your fingerprints and on your tongue, would have shifted and become muted and dull. But none of that was true. Despite everything that stood against you, despite being worlds, galaxies, universes apart, he was still the same Neteyam. The question nagged at you, unwavering and incessant: were you still the same Vol?

You felt goosebumps appear on your skin as soon as you left the confines of the shower behind. Weird - it wasn’t cold, and yet here you were, near shaking, heartbeat caught in your throat in… anticipation? Fear? It was hard to say, but, with a deep sigh, you fastened your towel and opened the door to your bedroom.

Your heart almost jumped out of your chest as you took in the man sitting on your bed, that was way too big to comfortably fit in your tiny room, not that that’s ever stopped him in all the years you’ve known him. He looked almost out of place here now, so long after the last time, and you winced a little at the contrast between the memories in your mind and what was displayed so clearly in front of you.

“Fuck! Neteyam, you scared the shit out of me! What are you doing here?”

Neteyam looked lost in thought, almost unaware of your presence or your voice, glossy eyes fixed somewhere beneath your desk, on a specific box you wish he never got to see.

“This room hasn’t changed one bit in all this time. It’s so weird. Everything’s changed…” the sigh that tried him felt like it was expelled from deep within his soul, like a sigh he’s been holding for the last year and a half. “Everything… and yet this room, it’s like a portal to the past, like I woke up in a life that feels like a mere dream sometimes.”

You don’t interrupt his musings.

“The sheets, the books, the smell, the way the light flickers sometimes, the way the mattress dips on one side more than the other because you’ve always preferred the left side of the bed, and I always had to sleep on the right, even the broken vase I broke with my tail the night I left. It’s all the same.”

His gaze finally settles on you. He looks pained as he sees you, finally the human he remembers, that he loved. It hurts him being in this room. It hurts you, too. It was your turn to sigh, as you tried to remove the images of the past flashing in front of your eyes like a picture book, and tried to focus on the reality that was still weighing heavily on your heart, no matter how many counterweights you balanced it with.

Your sigh matched his earlier one as you spoke, your eyes darting to the room that you spent less time in with each passing day, that felt as much of a relic of the past as you sometimes felt in his life.

“Yeah. I guess nothing’s changed.”

Tell me, when did your winning smile Begin to look like a smirk? When did all our lessons start to look like weapons pointed at my deepest hurt?

He notices an ornate bow by the foot of the bed, clearly the make of a talented Omaticayan warrior. It annoys him to no end that he can recognise the work easily, having grown up seeing it, having been one of the few that could compare to his. It angers him further just how much the disdain doesn’t seem to want to melt away, regardless of how much he’s told himself to let it go, regardless of how he swore the reason he came here tonight had nothing to do with it. He had no right to pry, not anymore. No right to be jealous… not anymore.

“Well, at least some things have changed…”

You blush, and it takes every ounce of self-restraint not to start patting your cheeks, that feel like they caught fire.

“Tarsem made it for me. It’s cute.” You didn’t know why, it’s not like you owed him anything, but you couldn’t help the next words, that stumbled unceremoniously out of your mouth in a panicked hurry. You didn’t owe him anything, but you still needed him to know. “And platonic.”

“Yeah, so were we.” The words, and the bitterness in them, so thinly veiled despite what you assumed were his best efforts, shocked you. This wasn’t like Neteyam at all - Neteyam was kind, and careful with his words always, he was considerate and empathetic, and he was never mean, especially not to you. Especially not like this.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and the tears that threatened to spill, leaving his words to hang in the air, making it thick and heavy with heightened emotions you were both trying your best to suppress.

“That’s not fair.”

Another sigh.

“You’re right. It’s not.”

I can’t make it go away by making you a villain I guess it’s the price I pay for seven years in heaven And I pulled your body into mine every goddamn night now I get fake niceties

“Are you drunk?” One exhale was enough for the stench of bourbon to hit you like a truck, and all of a sudden, it was clear enough - why he was here, why he was saying these things, why it felt like all the bitterness in his soul, that you assume has been as deeply buried as your own, was coming out in unsightly manners, and you were the one who had to stomach it. You forget, sometimes, it was easy to - that Neteyam suffered as much as you, that he lost just as much as you did, that dreaded July 9th.

When your question was met with silence, you continued.

“Why are you here, Neteyam?”

“I came to see you. The real you. At least while I still get the chance.” His gaze hardens looking at your body. He’s yet to look at your face - whether he doesn’t want to or can’t, you can’t tell. “Grandmother tells me you’re going to go for the consciousness transfer.”

You shift uncomfortably in place. His tone was distant and once more not like the one you loved at all.

“We all are. It’s the only way forward.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes it is.” He scoffs, rolling his beautiful golden eyes, picking a spot on the wall to grimace at.

“I’m not arguing with you on this.”

“Didn’t realise there was anything to argue about.”

“You shouldn’t do it.”

It was your turn to scoff, feeling irate despite your best efforts, despite knowing it was the alcohol talking, despite knowing you should tell him to leave, that nothing productive could possibly come out of this. There was anger in you, you realise - bubbling just beneath the surface, anger you’ve buried so deep, you didn’t even know it was nestled in your soul like a parasite, looming in latency, until it was time to come to light.

“And why the hell not?”

“Because you just shouldn’t.” his glare was harsh as it snapped to finally look at you, melting a little when his eyes found yours, the ones he's loved his whole entire life.

“Oh, I see we’re being mature. I’m doing this, we all are. It’s the only way. End of discussion, Neteyam.”

“… you could die.”

Your eyes widen. There's tears in his eyes, a lump in his throat. You sigh, placated a little by the realisation that all of this, although it could have been done better, was just his way of telling you he’s worried about you. You’re grateful, so grateful, that he still is - worried, that is. Your voice softens a little as you say the next words.

“Or I could finally live.”

“Why take the chance, it makes no sense. Just stay as an Avatar.”

“No. I will never fully live in either of these bodies unless I give one up. I’ve made my decision.”

“It’s a stupid decision. It’s a rash decision.”

“Rash? Are you serious? I’ve had 21 years to make this decision, Neteyam. Twenty-one years of feeling like an outcast, like an alien - of feeling like there’s no place for me in this world. I can finally be one of the people, I can finally have a purpose, and you want me to give that up?”

There was more, so much more - it was a complicated decision, the one you took, and so much thought has gone into it, so many sleepless nights went into this… but how could you say that to him? How can you tell him that he’s part of the reason you need to do this, that you need to be rid of this body, the body he’s known and he’s touched, the body that memorised every ounce of him by heart, that still felt phantom pains from the lack of his fingers on your skin? How can you tell him you will never be free until the body he knew and loved so intimately is gone… forever?

“I hate this body, Neteyam. I hate it. This body is useless, and weak. I have nothing in this body, I lost everything because of it. Everything… You have no fucking idea what it’s like. What any of this is like.” You urged him silently, pleading for him to understand. To stop asking you questions that would dig up a grave long dug and settled, that should remain untouched, that he was unwittingly desecrating. You were scared of what would come out when he did.

“And who does? Tarsem?”

“What?” You couldn’t believe your ears, the spiteful words coming out of Neteyam’s mouth like they were nothing, like it meant nothing when it hurt and burned and ached, when the seams with which you’ve become so acquainted starting splitting with every syllable uttered, when the anger that has been bubbling up in your chest for years, that you didn’t even know you still held onto was threatening to spill and poison this room and all its inhabitants.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? Are you actually saying these words out loud? I can’t believe you, Neteyam. So this is what this whole thing is about, huh? You came all this way and act like you’re worried about my safety, about the transfer, when the whole time you were just jealous of Tarsem? Jealous about something that’s not even there? He’s a friend, Neteyam. A friend.”

You’re both shouting at each other, screaming and hoping that will alleviate the pain, that will push the tears back in your tear ducts and not let them spill all over your face. You’re panting, the hurt burning holes in your chest, the anger cauterising them and making you push forward, for another blow, and then another… and then another.

“Wake up, Vol! Are you blind?! He wants you, he wants you to be the next Tsa’hik of the Omaticaya. He’s not nice because you’re such a treat to be around. He’s nice because he wants to fuck you!”

Silence. Silence that deafens, that echoes in your eardrums a lot more than the yells, roaring like a crashing waterfall. Silence. No silence can fix this. Nothing can fix this.

“Get out.”

His eyes are pits of guilt and despair, shock and terror at the words he would have never said out loud normally - you knew that. You knew he regretted them as soon as they came out of his mouth, but you didn’t care. Not right now. Not when he made the last night before your iknimaya, a night you were supposed to rest through so you can face whatever was waiting for you tomorrow, a bad memory that will only bitter with time.

“Vol, I -”

“No. Vol nothing. You don’t get to call me that anymore. That nickname was reserved for the child I grew up with, the teenager who looked out for me, the man who loved me - it’s not for you. You don’t get to come back to my life after so long just so you could try to ruin whatever little happiness I’ve managed to scrounge up from the scraps I was left with. Leave.”

“Please…”

“I don’t know what Tarsem’s intentions are. You’re right. Maybe he really does just want to fuck me. But I realised something, all this time apart. You didn’t fight for me. None of you did. You were my family, all I had, and it took you leaving and him becoming Olo’eyktan to realise I’ve never had a family. It took losing everything to see how little I had to begin with. You could have done something. You could have fought it, you could screamed and shouted at the top of your lungs that you loved me, that what we had mattered more than the clan or your duty, mattered more than controllable and comfortable mirage of peace, but you didn’t. You were ashamed of me, of what we did. It wasn’t enough for you, that I was human. You let me go, you watched me leave, I watched you mate with someone else knowing I will carry these wounds for the rest of my life and I did it with no complaints. I understood you, as much as I could, and I let go of the one love I’ve always wanted to hold on to. You didn’t fight for me. So you don’t get to be jealous. Not anymore. It’s not fair to me, or to you, or to the pregnant mate you’ve left at home.” The door was open now, gripped tightly by your aching hand, the tears falling from your faces and onto the ground the only sound to help the torturous silence left behind by your words, so many of them you’ve needed to say, so many of them you wish you never had to. “Go, Neteyam.”

No one teaches you what to do When a good man hurts you And you know you hurt him, too

The night was painful and never ending, the conversation pulsating in your ears like a terrible migraine. Why did he come back? You were doing well. Well enough. Why did he have to come and ruin whatever little joy you had? Why now, the night before the most important trial of your life, why now, so you can question and overanalyse every little interaction you and Tarsem ever had in order to prove him wrong, when all your mind can do is scour for reasons why he was right. Was he right?

He was right, wasn’t he? Why else would he be so kind to a demon? Why else would he train you, and accept you? Nobody ever had, not fully. Nobody ever had…

“Damn you, Neteyam.”

Honey, when I’m above the trees I see it for what it is But now my eyes leak acid rain On the pillow where you used to lay your head

Eventually, sleep did find you. And in it, so did dreams - memories, as they usually did, at your most vulnerable, nothing but your shaky psyche and a desperate desire to relive your happiest times to stand in their way.

“Why did you make Seze land where she did if you’re gonna make me walk so much?”

With a deep sigh, he stopped in his tracks and kneeled, and you smiled knowingly as you jumped on his back, your chin resting on his shoulder.

“You’re such a pain in the ass.”

“Eh, you’ve always known this about me, Teyam. And you still love me, anyway. What does that say about you, huh?”

“That I can’t resist a pretty face, especially when it’s yours, my Vol.”

Well, that shut you up. Neteyam could always shut you up like this, by saying things you both knew he shouldn’t say, and while you wanted to admonish him, while you wanted to tell him off because this wasn’t helping, this would never help this already convoluted situationship you found yourself in, you couldn’t. Not when your heart was beating out of your chest, not when your blush was so strong it was making you feel like your cheeks caught fire, not when it made you want to scream confessions that have settled in your chest a while ago, that would never see the light of day, as long as you could help it.

He laughed at your silence, and pushed past thick shrubbery to unveil the most beautiful sight you have ever seen.

“Surprise!”

If your heart hadn’t dampened the rest of the world and all its thunderous sounds, you would have noticed the waterfall crashing into the river below, but as it was, the sight laid bare in front of you was, truly, a surprise, and God… what a surprise it was. A sight almost too good to be true, the beauty of it all almost surreal. The cliff was remote and secluded, surrounded by tall colorful plants and hedges - perfect for activities no one should ever be privy to. The backdrop was something out of a fairy tale, down to the fish jumping from the waterfall and straight into the water below, and the rainbow that formed with every blow of the wind. But somehow, even despite every natural advantage that was so graciously displayed almost as if especially for you, still, the thing that made it all feel almost transcendent was just a simple blanket, woven in a pattern you knew was his own, on top of which sat a basket filled to the brim with your favourite fruits and culinary delicacies.

“You know, Teyam…” you chuckle, still taken aback by the gesture, almost chocked up from the love you felt for him, that ran somehow deeper every day. You wondered if there was end to it all, to how much this love will grow, to how much your heart could possibly hold within itself before bursting at the seams. “I was gonna sleep with you anyway, you didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”

You watched as his head swung backwards as he laughed, nuzzling itself in your belly, his braids tickling your thighs with every inadvertent move. A squeal left your body as his much larger arms reached above him and picked you up, manhandling you like a little doll, until you were on the ground, at the foot of the blanket. He said nothing, but bent down until his lips made contact with the top of your head, the romantic and intimate gesture enough to turn your insides gooey and your brain to mush. His voice was saccharine and velvet smooth when he eventually spoke.

“You look so good - so good - wearing my choker. Now take it all off. I want to see you wear nothing else, my Vol.”

After giving you the best I had Tell me what to give after that All you want from me now Is the green light of forgiveness

The morning was dragging and slow. Your mind was scattered and numb, perfectly complementing your burning eyes and heavy heart. You were angry, and sad, hopeless and forlorn, all of the things you shouldn’t be on the brink of your iknimaya. You needed your focus and your wits, both of which felt as far away as the ikran rookery you were on your way to.

“Ma Tawtute!”

You cringe at the nickname you’ve become fond of in time, that you hated right now, and the voice that spoke it. You try to no avail to leave, but you’re trapped when he catches you by the hand, willing you in place.

“Let go of me, Tarsem.”

“What’s gotten into you?”

You huff, rolling your eyes and tugging at your trapped wrist.

“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I can’t help until I know what it is.”

“Why are you nice to me?” you were angry again, almost eager to be proven right, eager to know for a fact what Neteyam told you was true.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I’m asking. Why? Why are you nice to me? Why do you smile at me, and train me… why are you making the People accept us?

Tarsem looked confused and taken aback at your barrage of questions, at your misplaced anger and your sudden skepticism of his actions. You couldn’t blame him.

“Because… you deserve it. Because if there’s one thing I learnt in time, is that good people, good humans, are hard to come by. And you, and the scientists, Spider… all the people who chose to stay behind in the way so many years ago… you’re it. You are good. You are kind, and knowledgeable, and you have devoted your whole life to the Omaticaya and to this planet, without ever asking for anything in return. The least I can do is make sure you live a life worth remembering, that you receive your well-earned place amongst the People.”

You were so content, so at peace, whenever your head was rested on Neteyam’s chest. You were home in his arms, home when your fingers were free to roam his chest, free to draw the constellations his tanhi made up when connected, free when his breath was fanning over your face with each kiss on your forehead.

“I’m so full.”

“Are you, now?”

“Of food, you freak.”

“Mm, I’m not doing my job well enough then. Guess I just need to try harder.”

You laugh, happiness enveloping like a shroud. You were scared of it, of your next question, but you knew you needed to know.

“Why did you bring me here, Neteyam?”

A shrug. Seemingly nonchalant, but there was purple in his cheeks, a flutter in his heart, loud and booming against your ear.

“It was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and it reminded me of you. Of us. As soon as I found it, I knew this could be it. Our place.”

“Our place.”

Neteyam’s head throbbed painfully, a nefarious mixture between a hangover and guilt making the world spin and his heart ache. Why? Why did he do that, say that? And before your Iknimaya, too. It was an important day, one of the most important days - important enough to determine the rest of your life within the Omaticaya and he managed to ruin it for you.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Norm.

“You look like you need this.” Whatever Norm handed him looked like it had already been eaten and thrown up before making its way into his hands, but he accepted it anyway. Norm knew best, and whatever it was, probably was going to help.

“It smells disgusting.”

“It is disgusting. But it will help. The hangover, that is. Everything else, I guess that’s what I’m here for.”

“Listen… I heard you, in her room last night. It was muffled enough, but the walls can only muffle screams so much, you know?”

“I fucked up, Norm. So badly. I said… horrible things to her last night. I was drunk, and sad… I was stupid and jea-“ He catches himself before he can finish, but it was too late.

��Jealous. You can say it, it’s ok.”

“I know… about you two. She told me. So you don’t have to hide. Not with me.”

Neteyam’s eyes go wide at Norm’s words, but he was relieved that he knew - that someone knew. Someone he could talk to. Someone to confess to.

“She’s right. About everything, she was right. I abandoned her. Over and over. I let my mum treat her and Spider like they were pariahs, and stood by as my dad did nothing about it for years. I always thought that’s just how it was always going to be, that nothing I could have done would have prevented it, but I look at her life now, and how Tarsem treats her, and I realise I was wrong. And they were wrong. And we failed her. So many years, my whole life… I failed her.”

Norm sighs, both of them looking at you, talking to Max, who would also be taking his Iknimaya today, smiling and motioning at how you were planning on subduing your ikran. You were lively and animated, but your eyes didn’t reflect it, and Neteyam hurt at the blame he bore for it.

“Kid… you did your best. You both did. And you loved her, and stood by her, even in the face of everything that stood against you. You didn’t fail her. The world did. The world failed you both.”

You haven’t met the new me yet And I think she’ll give you that

It went by in a blur; in a mess of worry and distress. It’s like he blinked and here you were, the first one to go, the first one to succeed. He was so proud of you, prouder than he’s ever been about anything in this life. His heart was beaming with happiness and love, his head swirling with all the way he’s imagined this day in his mind and thought it would never come, but here it was. He was living through it, and had to come to terms with the fact it was never going to be quite how he envisioned. But he still had you, and he still had today. And at least some of it, he felt, could be the same. In his dreams, you passed, and you shared the first flight, and he got to see you fully blossom, the way you deserved, the way he always knew you would. In his dreams, your ikran intertwined in flight, and you spent so much time exploring, laughing, yelling, living. In his dreams, both your ikran perched at the top of the Hallelujah mountain, trilling softly would be the only witnesses to your love, to the way he’d make sure to not let you go until the second he absolutely had to, until you were both spent, looking upwards at the unending and star-filled sky. He would never get that, but your first flight - he still could. He could still be it.

“First fly seals the bond, kid. You gotta go, now!”

You couldn’t believe it. You actually did it. All the training, and the fantasies, all the nights you spent as a little kid imagining what it would be like to actually fly on top of one, all the days you spent on Neteyam’s, while he told you about the bond, while you shed tears from the pain that came with knowing you would never experience it… they all led you to this. This one moment. Your ikran was beautiful, just like you always pictured her to be. She was cooing happily and moving slowly towards the edge of the cliff, almost as if heeding Jake’s words, or itching to further your newfound connection.

For one second, you look backwards, at all the people clapping and beaming with excitement, and your eyes, as they always seemed to, immediately drifted to Neteyam. They filled with tears at his pride, at the way his body radiated it, at the way he called his ikran, undoubtedly just as excited as you to share a moment you’ve always envisioned in dreams and reveries, one that seemed like a rare occasion by which your fairytale ideal life could come true. But your life wasn’t a fairytale - it would never be, it couldn’t be. And that dream, you had to leave behind. That dream, just like everything did when it came to him, speaks to a love long gone, an uncertain future, so much helplessness and hopelessness and dread, so much fleeting happiness that dissipated when reality struck. It speaks to the past, a past neither of you related to anymore.

Another second, for your gaze to reach Tarsem. In him, you saw a future. In it, you saw stability and comfort, a love worth harbouring and cherishing. In it, you saw the Omaticaya, and the forest, a destiny that always seemed out of your reach, but which was now closer than ever. In it, you saw kids, running around, calling you mother. You saw the People, reaching for you for help and guidance, a feather jacket and pilgrimages that would decipher Eywa’s will.

In them, you saw yourself. One one hand, your past self, a human, broken and unmoored, born in a planet that didn’t make accommodations for the likes of her. You saw love that ran so deep it formed endless canyons in the pit of your soul, that emptied when the love was so ruthlessly taken away from you. You saw your mother, wicked and disinterested, and your father, evil and dangerous. On the other, you saw a warrior. Na'vi. Omaticaya, through and through. Tough and seasoned, healed and ready to heal. A mother. A mate.

You were neither of those.

There’ll be happiness after you But there was happiness because of you too Both of these things can be true There is happiness in our history

“There’s been talk, you know.”

“Oh?”

“About you.”

“I must be getting pretty good at it, this whole climbing and sneaking thing. I was hanging on an upper branch of a tree back in the village the other day. Managed to somehow catch the end tail of a conversation between a few girls. Didn’t hear me, too busy talking… about you, the Omaticayan Prince.” You snickered at the title, one of many titles reserved for Neteyam alone. You knew he hated it, all of it - the attention, and the pressure, the sacrifices that came with being worthy of all of them.

“Talking about how hot you are, how much they would kill to be the one you get to get take home at night. Theorising about who could it be. Going on and on about how lucky whoever you will choose as a mate will be, how there’s not a single girl in the village that wouldn’t die to have that honour bestowed upon them.“

Neteyam sighed and shrugged, brushing off the comments for only one of his own. “Only one girl I care about.”

You smiled in his chest, abundantly relieved and terrified all at once. This wasn’t good, this was so dangerous, the way he was playing the strings of your heart like he was a world-renowned harpist… but oh, it felt so necessary right now - the validation, the promise that, at least for a while, you still get to keep him just to yourself.

“She’s a lucky girl. Whoever she is.”

“I’m the lucky one. Because she’s… everything. And I work every day, try my hardest every day, to be worthy of her. And I want to make her a promise. For as long as i can help it, I promise I’ll hold on to her like I’ll ne-“

“Never let her go again.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard and hummed approvingly in return. You hoped he couldn’t feel the tears rolling down his side. You hoped he couldn’t tell that breaking this promise will break you. You hoped he never has to.

“Good.”

“She’ll do the same.”

Across our great divide There is a glorious sunrise Dappled with the flickers of light From the dress I wore at midnight

There was so much spoken between you and Neteyam in just a few moments. There was so much he can see in you, so much struggle in your soul. And eventually, he sees you turn away from him, from all of them, willing your ikran away. He watches as you leave, by yourself, desperately wanting to go after you, realising it’s better if he didn’t. And just like that, a huge chapter of his life, the longest one, the best one, was instantly over and Neteyam knows he just lost you, forever.

You were never his to lose.

Leave it all behind

taglist: rebeccao03 @i-live-in-a-fantasy-daydream @eywaeveng @midnight1812@fanboyluvr @narwhal-swimmingintheocean @daddysmurfslefttoenail @neteyamsikran @blue-slxt @elenamoncada-ibarra @spicymayyo @eyweveng @itsjazzsworld @eyrina-avatar @iameatingmyhair @pandoraslxna @sulieykte @neteyamyawne @kasai-https @dvxsja @midnight1812

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wip · 8 months

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I'd love an explanation for why colored backgrounds were removed from direct messages. it made dms feel personal and vibrant since they used the main theme color from the blog you were messaging, and the new layout feels so cold and boring. Also, why is the avatar not a link to the blog from the messages menu? It seems like a step backwards to remove functionality like that.

Like clicking/touching here just opens the messages, it doesn't navigate to the blog anymore.

Basically, why make the app uglier and harder to use?

Answer: Hey there, @slimereveler!

First things first. The blog name at the top of a conversation takes you to the blog, starting with version 30.7 of the apps. If it isn’t live just yet it is definitely being addressed, and it won’t be long until it is.

For user-defined backgrounds, they were, in many cases, inaccessible with very low contrast. It’s a long-term problem that we have, and fully intend to address, and hopefully in a way that still gives users choice in customizing their spaces. But without potentially making the site unusable, of course! So, while we appreciate that many users enjoyed the colored backgrounds, we also have a duty to the community to make the messages readable.

In a nutshell—we have to support 12 different color palettes. Adding blog colors will add too much variance, and it will be very hard to manage the combination of these palettes and blog colors and maintain good accessibility.

Thank you for your question—it was important to address, and we are grateful you raised it with us.

Best,

—Paul and Maxime

#feature #DMs #usability #backend

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byunpum · 11 months

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Byunpum, you’re literally in the top tier of my favorite writers on Tumblr! ☺️💓 So I have an idea, Z-Dog goes into heat for the first time while eating lunch with fem,human! Reader, and storms away to isolate in her room. Reader is baffled and hurt, so when she goes to Z’s room to confront her, Z starts hissing and screaming at her to get out. Reader won’t leave, insisting on getting an answer about what happened 🙈😇❤️‍🔥

Pair: Z-dog x Fem reader ( human reader!!!<3)

Warning: none. Teasing, Heat, misunderstanding

Note: This is my first request from zdog and I'm nervous (^3^)// She sooo aHhHhAHAHAHAASDFGHJK and @blueberryera omg thanks, your sooo sweet, I send you virtual hugs and kisses.

Something was happening to her and she knew it. Ever since she woke up that morning, just getting up was making her grumpy. And it was a strange kind of grumpiness, nothing had happened to cause her to have a bad time. If not, it was a moodiness caused by the feeling of neediness… needing… lack of attention. She decided not to give it any importance, maybe it was a side effect of this new avatar body. So she decided to go about her day as normal, doing her chores. Filling his routine rounds with lopez, and going to the gym to clear his mind. Everything seemed under control until lunchtime came.

Z was quite happy, she was going to get to see you. Usually during the week you didn't have time to spend time together, and lunch was the perfect time. She had the afternoon off and you had 3 hours off. You two had met the same day she woke up in this avatar body. You were one of the doctors in charge of the avatars. You quickly paired up, it was something you couldn't control…it just happened. Z walks into the dining room, and all the grumpiness she's been trying to control all day comes rushing back like a big wave. When she sees how Lyle is sitting next to you, with one hand on your shoulder. Pulling your whole body into him, she swears she could see the thumb of his hand make circles on the bare skin of your arm.

She walks quickly to the direction you were facing, sitting down abruptly next to you. The thump on the seat was loud and startled both you and Lyle. Both of the two had not realized that Z was approaching. "Love…how are you?" you speak, pulling away from lyle closer to her body. Resting your head on her arm. As soon as Z was in your sight, all your attention went to her, and that was something she loved about you. You can feel how tense Z-dog is, and it surprises you. She is usually relaxed and very affectionate with you. You miss her not hugging you and giving you kisses on the top of your head. "I'm fine" speaks Z, her tone was dry. As she began to touch her food, everyone at the table gave her a few glances. You settle closer to her side, crossing your hand on her arm. Seeking more of her warmth, but you feel Z pull away and move her arm for you to let go. "Y/N…baby let me breathe" Zdog says, still with a cold, dry tone. You feel a pain in your chest, she was never treating you like this. Lyle turns to take a good look at her friend, she had actually told you that.

"Zdog…are you okay? Why are you acting like that?" asks Lyle, The woman laughs out loud…it's a ironic smile. You knew that smile. "I said I was fine!!! right…" the woman speaks, as she continues to eat. Everyone lets the event pass, but you are still a bit disconcerted. You move away from her a bit, focusing now on trying to regain your appetite. Time passes quickly, and at no time does Z turn to look at you. You can see how she is talking to Lopez, and to Miles. He even speaks to lyle again. But to you…it seemed like you were a ghost to her. When there was a moment of silence and everyone in the group was busy. You take the opportunity to move closer to her, placing your hand in the palm of her hand to squeeze it. Trying to get her attention. Z tensed as she felt your touch.

"I have the afternoon free…what do you want me to" you start to speak almost in a whisper, but Z interrupts you. Getting up from her seat, causing her to push you away. You watch as she leaves the room, you swear you've heard her hissing. This was bothering you, she wasn't like that with you. You had done something wrong…it couldn't be because you were talking to lyle, you always talked to lyle. Why was she despising you so much. Everyone at the table goes silent, as they begin to look at you. You decide to get up and go see what was going on with her. It had to be something serious, maybe she was sick and felt a little unwell. Or she just wanted to be alone. Still you go to the rooms to see if she was there, and to your good fortune there she was. The door was slightly open, and you poke your head through the doorway.

You can see how Zdog is lying face down on the bed, with her hands spread out. She looked like a starfish…as she whimpered and whined. "Love?" you speak as you watch as zdog's tail lifts up and does a quick wag. "Leave me alone…pleaseeee" it's almost a cry of pain and frustration. You got a little chuckle out of it, because it sounded like a little girl fighting. "Z you have to explain to me what is wrong with you…are you? Did I do something wrong?" you ask watching as the woman turns sideways, making a sort of ball with her body. Looking up, her pupils were dilated and her ears were moving back.

"You…you haven't done anything love…I just want to be alone" she speaks, hugging her body tighter. You move to the edge of the bed, sitting up to stroke her hair. "I'm not going anywhere…and you know it" you speak, as you watch Z look up. And giggles a little, she has to give up she doesn't need to argue with you anymore, she knows you won't leave her side. And she liked that about you, you never leave her. "Now…may I know what's wrong with you? After all I am your doctor" you speak tenderly, you don't want to upset her, you know she is frustrated about something. The behavior is very noticeable, and the avatars can be unpredictable, as they don't know how to control this new body.

"I feel…bad, It's not health…it's mmm" she tries to explain how she feels, but at the same time she feels ashamed to tell you how she is feeling. You guys have never gone this far before, just heated kissing sessions. Just that…but now she needed a little more. "Are you in pain? Or is it discomfort?" you speak, Z takes a deep breath. She hated it when you spoke like a doctor, you sounded too professional for her. "No…it's a need" she looks at you with wide eyes, intently waiting for you to understand. It takes you a moment to understand, but you take the hint quickly. Blushing and pulling your hand away from her hair, which you had been caressing for some time.

"Really? But it's kind of painful" you wait for her to answer, because you were getting nervous. Z gets up and sits on the bed. Crossing her legs. "I…this need started this morning, I thought it was normal. I always feel this way…but this time it's different. It bothers me" Z says, waiting for you to say something that might help her. As if what's happening to her is some kind of disease. You swallow hard, and settle closer to her. You can see her get excited, and make room for you to be more comfortable. Apparently the attitude she had moments ago in the dining room was due to the presence of male figures, she became defensive.

"You're in heat Z" you drop the bombshell without warning, taking the girl by surprise. "In heat? How's that?" this was really getting on her nerves. "Yes, in heat…like some animals do. Navi females also go into heat, it almost always lasts 1-2 weeks. Then it goes away. You are in mating season" you speak, seeing how Z is looking at you surprised and confused. She starts stroking the back of her neck, and takes a deep breath. You try to comfort her, taking your hands to caress her fingers. "And is there anything you can do to take it away? A pill, treatment?" she asks. "mmm no, it's a natural thing. Like a monthly period…it just has to pass. Or you have to mate with someone." You speak, catching the woman's attention with your last words. "Mate with a male" you speak, you watch as Z settles in and you feel her tail flick at you. That displeased her a bit…why did she have to be with someone other than you. You watch as his demeanor changes, so you decide to explain. "The female navi body has to fulfill that need, it's kind of annoying. If she doesn't have a partner…she has to relieve herself alone" you speak.

"And… couldn't I be with you? Couldn't you help me?" her voice sounded a little sassy, and you were getting nervous. "ahh I, I, I guess…I don't know" you speak, trying to pull away from her, but you feel the grip on your hands grow stronger. Moving her hand to your forearm, making a quick movement so you could move. Causing you to now be positioned in her lap. "I'd like it to be you…to help me feel good. Would you like that?" says Z, placing her hands on either side of your hips, squeezing your soft skin. You could barely speak, biting your lower lip trying to stifle a moan that was threatening to come out of your mouth, when you feel the tight squeeze Z had given your ass. "Answer me baby…you want to help me?" she speaks, sniffing a little at your neck leaving several wet kisses. You swallow hard, moving your hands over her chest. "Yes…yes I would" listening as Z let out a little smile, shit…she had planned this whole thing.

P.S: I love it when I get requests for recoms, there's not a lot of work on them.

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natlacentral · 26 days

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The Actress Who Waited a Lifetime to Become Katara

Kiawentiio talks joining the cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender and playing a character that means so much to so many

The 17-year-old actress Kiawentiio (pronounced gya-wuhn-dee-yo) can’t remember a time when Avatar: The Last Airbenderwasn’t part of her childhood in some way. Growing up on the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation in Ontario known as Kawehno:ke (or Cornwall Island), Kiawentiio—who was born in 2006, a full year after the beloved animated series debuted on Nickelodeon—recalls having older siblings who would have the cartoon regularly playing in the background of their house. Years later, when all three seasons began streaming on Netflix, she revisited the series and developed a newfound appreciation for its narrative ambition.

So, when Netflix first announced that it was developing a live-action adaptation of Avatar in 2018, Kiawentiio told her team to get her an audition for Katara, the 14-year-old girl who is trying to fulfill her potential as the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe after her mother was killed by the ruthless Fire Nation.

“By the time they actually did start casting, I got the call from my manager that was like, ‘Don't freak out, but we think we have the Avataraudition.’ And obviously, I freaked out,” Kiawentiio tells Harper’s Bazaarwith a laugh in a recent phone interview. Of all the roles she had auditioned for, this one was at the top of her bucket list, because she knew that it could have the same impact on the next generation of Indigenous children that it had on her. “Katara was one of the only people that I could really see myself in. With the role model that she is for young Indigenous women, it's hard not to be drawn to her, especially when the representation is so scarce.”

Kiawentiio got her wish in the spring of 2021. After undergoing an intensive audition process, complete with a seemingly never-ending number of Zooms and chemistry reads, she got the news that would change her life. “They sat me down for another Zoom call, and I was expecting them to tell me it might take a while, but [creator and showrunner] Albert Kim ended up telling me what the project was, who I was auditioning for, and then I landed the role, and I was crying,” she recalls.

Every diehard Avatar fan can recite the basic premise by heart: Long ago, the four nations—Water, Earth, Fire, Air—once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, the master of all four elements, keeping the peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads. A century later, Aang (Gordon Cormier), a 12-year-old Air Nomad who has been frozen and suspended in time in an iceberg, reawakens to take his place as the next Avatar. Feeling responsible for the destruction he was unable to prevent, Aang sets out on a quest with his newfound friends, Katara and her Water Tribe leader brother Sokka (Ian Ousley), to save the world from the onslaught of the power-hungry Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim), who is determined to place all the nations under his authoritarian rule.

Katara, as Kiawentiio puts it, is the heart of the Avatar crew tasked with using their bending powers to restore peace in the divided world. “I think the core factors that make Katara [who she is] are her hopefulness and her optimism, and she's the person in the group that can keep them moving forward in a positive direction, and I think without that, team Avatar wouldn't be able to see the light,” she says.

Below, Kiawentiio reflects on the defining moments of Katara’s arc in the first season (which was shot two years ago in Vancouver), how she has grown alongside her character, and why she feels a new day has come for Indigenous representation in Hollywood.

A lot of the dramatic tension of the first season boils down to Aang’s internal conflict: Does the Avatar need to act alone, or can they afford to have people who help them along the way? In Aang’s case, he doesn’t just want people in his life; he needsthem to help save the world. Why do you think Katara is immediately drawn to Aang and his mission? How do you think that relationship evolves over the course of the season?

I think the reason that she was drawn to him in the first place was this energy of bender to bender, honestly, and I feel like that type of energy [bonds them] not only physically, but just spiritually. It's really intertwined in who they are because Aang plays a huge part in Katara's growth physically with her bending, and I feel like it was just this calling of fate and where you're supposed to be. But in terms of how the relationship has grown, I think it really is just blossoming into a family. Team Avatar is a family in our show. They're not going to leave each other's side; they're always there for each other.

Midway through the season, Koh, the face stealer of the spirit world, temporarily imprisons Katara and her brother Sokka and traps them with some of their darkest memories, which allows us to see, rather than hear about, their backstories. In Katara’s case, she is forced to relive the day she lost her mother. How do you think that loss has affected her in the present day?

It's just painful and that is the point of Koh, right? It is to weaken his prey with their own pain and their own memories. The way I see it is she probably feels helpless. She can't do anything, and that's really what has held her back. What has stuck in her mind is the fact that she couldn't do anything [to save her mom], and to be stuck in that painful loop definitely puts a damper on her confidence that she's been working up this entire season.

That memory of the loss that she went through is a roadblock, and that's something that she has to try and overcome as we go through the series because it really is the main reason that she can't get to that next level [of waterbending]. In the episode with Jett, after he shifted her perspective on how she was thinking and how her memories were acting up, she really unlocks that good energy that her mom was trying to leave her with.

It's impressive how together Katara actually is, especially in our season, because the flashbacks and her memories are so brutal that it's like, "Wow, I can't believe you are still normal." [Laughs.] But that goes to show how resilient she is and how strong she is. I think that was one of the things I took away from her while playing her. I tried to implement her message in my life more to be more optimistic and to have that hope and strength.

When she arrives in the Northern Water Tribe, Katara realizes that the women of this tribe aren’t allowed to fight, which comes as a bit of a culture shock for her. But it’s moving to see how she is able to mobilize the women of all ages when the tribe is under siege by the Fire Nation. At the end of the day, they are the ones who helped defeat the enemy.

Arriving at the Northern Water Tribe was something that she was looking forward to all season, and I think in her mind she had this image of like, "I'm going to get there. I'm going to meet a master, and he's going to teach me everything I need to know, and I’ll finally be able to reach that next step [as a Waterbender]." And getting there and being told basically all your work is not going to be paid off [because you’re a woman] was, in my opinion, devastating. That devastation leads straight into anger, which I relate to. I feel like I get the same waves of emotions, and then that leads to wanting to prove them wrong, wanting to change things [like Katara does]. Honestly, that scene with the women [Waterbenders] is just so beautiful, and it was one of my favorites to film. But I think in her mind, she was just reality checking Master Paku: "We are literally in a war. We are not going to make it. Just use your resources." And not only was that the realistic thing that needed to happen, but the change that she's been fighting for [all season].

I read that you trained for six months ahead of production to commit Katara’s waterbending motions to muscle memory. You spent that time going over forms of tai chi and getting strong enough to handle the action sequences.

Boot camp was intense for me personally, just because I'd never really gone through that before and I don't have as much or any experience outside of the show with martial arts. But it was really helpful to be in the same boat as my character, training-wise. At the start of the show, she really doesn't know that much about bending. As we go along through the episodes, we could see her get more comfortable and more confident in her bending. As we watch Katara gain her confidence, I feel like off-screen I was also gaining confidence with those movements, getting stronger as we go and just getting more comfortable in general.

With the critical success of many Indigenous projects in recent years—Reservation Dogs, Rutherford Falls, Killers of the Flower Moon, The English, Dark Winds—it feels like we have reached an inflection point when it comes to accurate depictions of Native American communities. As someone who is part of this growing movement, what is your take on the state of diversity and inclusion for Indigenous communities? And what do you think is the next step that needs to be taken to move the needle even further?

I think we are making huge steps in the industry. I love being able to look around more and more and see more of our faces, and I do think that there's places that we could improve on for sure. But thinking of how far we've come, even from when I was younger, Katara was one of the only brown people that I saw on my TV, so it's really special to be a part of this generation that's being able to do these things.

I think the next step could be just normalizing things, like it doesn't always have to be an Indigenous story to have Indigenous actors, writers or directors. I think that's one of the things that can get touchy in this industry because we want to include everybody of course, but it doesn't have to be so specific. Why does the doctor have to be [only] the Indigenous doctor that came from [this tribe]? Why can't he just be a doctor that happens to be Indigenous?

Indigenous people or actors can be the main character. Obviously, our culture is always a part of who we are, but it doesn't have to be that the reason we are in this role is because we are Indigenous. We can tell our story as a person and still value and venerate our culture without that being the only reason that we're in the story to begin with.

With big blockbusters, I feel like it ends up being like, "Oh, the lead is white, the other lead is white, and then everybody else is a person of color." I feel like that's a theme that we end up seeing a lot. But another really good way to improve [on that] is supporting Indigenous storytellers. We have so many stories, and [telling them] is one of the things that is keeping our cultures alive, and there are so many stories that could be told from our perspective.

#natla #atla #kiawentiio #netflix avatar #avatar the last airbender #netflix atla #avatar netflix #atla netflix #interview #harper's bazaar

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balanceoflightanddark · 2 months

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As everyone is probably aware, I am an Azula fan. And I've been left..."estranged" is the best word I can say from the franchise. I think I speak for a lot of people that how the comics' handled her hurt a lot of us. Pretty deeply. Characters we used to look up to were now reenacting every nightmare scenario we could've imagined.

Azula in the Spirit Temple was a step in the right direction, but the fact is for a lot of us, it's going to take a long time to recover. The near future is going to be hard for the old guard. Full of uncertainty both with the Netflix remake and the upcoming Avatar Studios movies (if they ever get released). This is on top of a decade of bad takes which hit every button and some pretty upsetting content that'll form a bedrock for new stories going forward.

So, I get the apprehension. I really do. Hell, I was right there when the Azula comic came out. It's the same anxiety that kept me on the backend, wondering what else they're going to put her through next. Particularly with how for such a long time, the comics were the only real continuation we had of the original series. Made us feel that we didn't have a voice in the wider community.

Course the obvious consensus is that we're obsessed. And perhaps that is true. I feel though that Azula means a lot to every one of us. For me, her story was that of self-destructive perfectionism and striving for belonging in a world against her. Finding something that would never come. Struggling with one's own mental health. Being raised in a society that teaches you to be a soldier and adult first, human being and child second.

She meant a lot to me. As she means to so many others. And nothing is going to take that away from us.

Times have changed. Azula's perception is being rewritten in the fandom at large, possibly within the franchise as a whole. Obviously, there's always going to be naysayers, and I understand that breaking bread and coming back to the fandom is asking a lot. So I won't. There are uncertain times ahead. And for many of us, it will be painful.

Know then that you are not alone. There's others that feel the same way you do. And we're in this together.

Feel free to share your thoughts.

#azula #princess azula #azula fans

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zeke-in-devildom · 3 months

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Dissonance - Chapter 6: Seven Deadly Sins

Focusing so intently on the aura of the house had been a mistake. Zeke had barely managed to step onto the porch before the front door flew open and six new demonic auras hit him all at once forcing him to take a step back. He wasn’t afraid, exactly. There was no malice, no hate, no deadly intent. If anything, the auras surrounding him were all a mix of concern and relief. There were too many voices talking over each other. Everything was happening so fast, a blur launched itself at him and all he could do was squeeze his eyes shut while bracing for whatever impact was coming. There was the sound of an impact, in fact he thought he felt the porch rattle with the force of it, but nothing touched him.

“Enough!” Lucifer’s voice was a low, threatening rumble and his aura was full of annoyance and exasperation. All other voices immediately fell silent. Peeking his eyes open, Zeke’s vision was filled with ebony feathers. The four regal black wings that he’d only caught ethereal glimpses of until now were on proud display, spread wide in front of him like a dark shield. He could see the black horns curving from Lucifer’s head. It was the first time he had seen a demon intentionally in its demon form.

“Oi! Ya didn’t have’ta hit me!” Oh, so that was the impact that rattled the wood beneath his feet. Wait. Lucifer had hit one of his brothers that hard? The demon had been so gentle with him so far. Of course, he was still a demon. Zeke shouldn’t be surprised.

“Behave yourself or I’ll hit you again. Do not descend on him like an unruly pack of feral dogs. No one touches him without his permission, or need I remind you of what happened just a few short hours ago?” Yeah, maybe caution was the wise idea, at least for now. He had no idea how the pact with Lucifer actually worked. It was working just fine as a buffer against outside energies, but what about direct contact? Since he’d woken up no one had directly touched him, except Lucifer, and that had not included skin contact.

“Are you going to at least let us meet him? This is hardly fair. You act as if we would ever intentionally harm him.” Zeke didn’t have to strain much to see over the wings that were obstructing his view of the demons that had poured out of the house at their arrival. The one that just spoke seemed very agitated. He didn’t have wings, but a black armored tail that faded into a toxic green towards the end, his horns curled a bit back and out. They almost seemed opposite of Lucifer’s horns in a way. The blue-green eyes and blond hair were also a stark contrast to the demon currently shielding him.

“Of course I don’t think you would intentionally harm him. It is unintentional harm that I am worried about.” Okay, maybe Lucifer was being a little overprotective here. These were his brothers, right? Zeke couldn’t sense ill-intent from even one of them. At least not towards him. The blond was oozing contempt and rage, but that was all directed at Lucifer - although now that he looked closer he could sense hurt and self-doubt after the eldest’s comment.

The others also seemed to be varying degrees of angry or upset at the comment, but not quite like Satan, the name floated across his mind, like a whisper. As his gaze swept over each demon he gathered the names Mammon, Leviathan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor with little trouble. It wasn’t hard for Zeke to place the sin with each Avatar either. Each sin seemed to encompass one of the demons, like a layer on top that you had to peel back to see everything that lay beneath. It wasn’t all they were, but their sins seeped into everything that they were, like an inescapable cage holding them. Well, that's depressing. It was time to diffuse the situation.

“Uh, Lucifer? I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but could we all relax? Please?” Lucifer’s wings twitched and the demon remained tense for a few moments before exhaling and dropping his demon form. Zeke stepped around the first-born and offered the rest of the demons a polite smile. “Hello, I’m Ezekiel Pendergast, but I’d really prefer it if you called me Zeke. It’s nice to meet you. I know looking after me for the next year is probably a huge inconvenience but I’ll try not to cause you too much trouble. Thank you for having me.”

“Oooh, isn’t he just precious? So polite!” Asmo hadn’t hesitated to step forward, squishing his cheeks in his very soft hands. This one was dangerously pretty. “I’m Asmo, hon. You know you worried us all half to death, that’s so bad for my skin, you know! You can make it up to me later~”

“Oi, hands off Asmo!” The Avatar of Lust was pried away from him, and that pout was even more dangerous. “I’m the Great Mammon. What the hell even was that back there? I thought you were broken!”

Well that was just plain rude. Zeke bristled slightly, how many times had people implied that he was broken or defective in some way? Swallowing down the irritation his smile grew just a fragment tighter.

“Watch how you speak.” Lucifer smacked Mammon on the back of his head.

“C’mon Lucifer ya know I didn’t mean it like that!” It still came off as incredibly insulting regardless of the intention, but he wasn’t sure how to feel about Lucifer’s casual violence towards one of his brothers.

“Ignore stupid Mammon. Uh, I’m Levi. You’re probably a total normie, and I don’t normally associate with normies, but I’ll make an exception for you, I guess. Do you like anime? Manga? How about video games? I can totally give you some good recommendations!” Did this weeb just call him a normie? Wow, okay. Not the best first impression, but good to know that otaku dorks were a thing here too.

“Ah, I look forward to it.” Zeke was more into books, but he could enjoy manga, anime, and video games. He wondered if he’d have the free time between studying and keeping up with writing deadlines. That was something to think about later.

“I’m Satan, the Avatar of Wrath. Welcome to the Devildom.” The introduction was curt, and the demon turned and disappeared back into the house as soon as the words were out of his mouth. It was kind of rude, but Zeke figured Satan was hanging onto his anger by a thread and needed to excuse himself to compose himself and just get away from Lucifer. That animosity was something he wanted to avoid, honestly. Curiosity be damned.

“I’m Beel. Are you okay?” Okay, this one was huge, but he gave off major giant puppy energy. Zeke felt himself immediately liking the gentle giant.

“I’m fine now, thanks for asking.” Beel seemed so earnest and concerned. It was sweet. He hadn’t expected demons to be so welcoming or caring. Maybe he should find this suspicious, and in a way, he did, but for now he just wanted to get settled. Sorting out his thoughts and feelings about everything could wait until he had been left in peace and quiet.

“I’m Belphie. You look tired. Come on, your room is ready.” Zeke blinked at the sleepy looking demon as he grabbed his arm and began dragging him inside. The thought of resisting did flash across his mind, but only for a moment. He did want to see his room.

“Belphegor! I said not to touch him without his permission.” Lucifer’s voice was raised and angry as the oldest followed them inside.

“This is okay, right?” Belphie gave him an almost cheeky grin that was definitely calculating. Zeke didn’t need to be told this was probably the baby of the family. He seemed like someone used to getting his way. Rather than verbally answering he gave an uncertain smile and nodded. He really did want to escape to the sanctuary of his own room. It was nice to know he had his own space. “See? It’s fine.”

“Fine, but don’t make a nuisance of yourself. Make sure he rests.” Lucifer was clearly annoyed, but allowed Belphie to continue. “The rest of you find some way to preoccupy yourselves. Don’t crowd our guest.”

Why did Lucifer put a weird emphasis on the last word? It was like he had to remind them that he was, in fact, a guest. Oh, right, demons eat humans - flesh and soul. Oddly he didn’t feel frightened of the reminder. Every demon he had interacted with so far had been exceptionally friendly towards him, it would have made him suspicious that they were somehow trying to get him to let his guard down, but he could sense their good intentions.

Zeke was distracted from thinking about it when Belphie pulled him to an intricate door, it looked like it had a carving of Yggdrasil on it, which he could greatly appreciate. Among the chiseled leaves he saw his name discreetly weaved into the branches.

“This one’s yours. It’s right next to the kitchen. Go on.” Belphie stopped and leaned against him slightly, looking very much like he was about to fall asleep where he stood. Zeke wasn’t surprised when Beel came up behind them and steadied his brother. He had felt the large demon following closely behind them.

Turning the silver handle, Zeke held his breath as he pushed open the door to get his first glimpse of his room. He was not prepared. The room he stepped into was out of a storybook. There was even a tree growing in the middle of the room. The branches formed a canopy over his bed, and soft faerie lights were strung along the leaves - was that a fire hazard? Probably not, they had magic. No way would they accidentally light the house on fire, right?

Moving further into the room he couldn’t believe just how much room there really was. The room was sectioned off, the tree divided the part that was clearly for sleeping from the side of the space that was clearly devoted to a sort of attached study. His laptop was already sitting neatly on top of a large, intricately carved wooden desk. There also seemed to be an alchemy station in the corner. He had a whole dining table in his bedroom. This seemed like an inordinate amount of space. If his room was this big, how big were the rest of the bedrooms?

It wasn’t over. He found a door leading to a large bathroom. There was a whole garden tub with a separate shower. There seemed to already be an absurd supply of products provided. Another door leads to a walk-in closet. It seemed that Barbatos had brought over his clothes and hung them neatly. The drawers were probably also filled with his clothes. However he noticed that there were far too many clothes, and some of them were definitely not his. They were too stylish and expensive looking.

Beel and Belphie were watching him from around the closet door frame. They both looked nervous. The auras around them swirled with anticipation. Were they worried he wouldn’t find the room acceptable? This place was almost bigger than his entire apartment, what could he complain about? Honestly, when he realized he was expected to go to school he was picturing something closer to his cramped, shared college dorm room. This was above and beyond his expectation.

“This is incredible.” Zeke beamed at them both. Both their auras lit up, happiness and satisfaction swirling with brilliant colors. Beel’s face also lit up, a wide smile to accompany his aura, while Belphie’s expression barely changed. He still looked very sleepy, but there was the hint of a smile.

“Good. Now come nap with me.” Zeke blinked. Was Belphie for real?

“Uh, honestly I already napped today, and that’s kind of weird for me. I really don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep.” Also the demon had wanted to nap with him. Demons probably had different ideas about personal space. Zeke hadn’t slept with another person next to him since he was a toddler. “If you’re tired you should definitely go take a nap. I’ll be fine.”

“Lucifer said to make sure you rest, and as much as I hate to agree with him, you should definitely rest. It’s hard on humans to traverse realms like you did if they’re not used to it, and you reacted worse than most.” Belphie gave a dissatisfied grunt before grabbing his hand and pulling him back towards the main part of the bedroom.

“Right.” Well he couldn’t argue against his poor reaction to arriving in the Devildom. That didn’t change the fact that Zeke wasn’t really sleepy. One nap was already more than normal. Belphie didn’t seem to be taking no for an answer, though.

“Lucifer said not to bother him, Belphie. Maybe he’d rather get a snack than take a nap right now? You look hungry.” Beel was so sweet.

“I ate breakfast. Although, I’m honestly not sure how long ago that was now.” He wasn’t sure exactly how long he was unconscious initially, and then there was the nap he’d started in Diavolo’s office at RAD. It occurred to him that he genuinely had no idea what time it was. He didn’t feel all that hungry though. Sleep and food were generally afterthoughts for him.

Belphie was seemingly undeterred though, because a tug on his arm brought him down onto the bed next to the sleepy demon. He thought he heard him mumble something about them being too noisy, but Zeke was pretty sure that Belphie was already asleep, and he was trapped in his arms now. He tried to wiggle out of his new prison, but was unsuccessful. It didn’t help that the bed was unnaturally soft and the demon was so very warm. Has he ever felt more physically comfortable? Did humans even have mattresses and pillows this soft?

Resignation seemed the only choice, so Zeke relaxed into the bed and sighed as Belphie snuggled up to him even more. Beel looked torn, but he ended up pulling a spare comforter over the pair of them.

“I’ll wake you up for dinner. We all eat together at breakfast and dinner.” Beel smiled reassuringly at him.

Zeke wasn’t sure why Beel seemed so sure that he’d be falling asleep, but even as he thought that, he realized his eyes were already feeling very heavy. Was this because Belphie was the Avatar of Sloth? Then again, maybe it was just how soft and warm everything felt just now. The demon was spooning him and the feeling of his soft breaths on the back of his neck were kind of soothing. Plus he could feel his heartbeat against his back.

This is kind of nice.

#obey me #obey me zeke #obey me ezekiel jada pendergast #obey me mc #obey me oc #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me dissonance

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poppyswriting · 9 months

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𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓. an avatar posible serie

summary: you’ve never questioned your existence when you were a child. You always knew where you came from and what was your purpose, but everything change when you started to question the village only rule. Never pass to the reef.

Warnings: hurt/comfort, physical attack, mentions of wounds/blood.

Notes: this is a completely non-cannon story, as well as an au created by myself. Every dialogue that characters have are on sign Na’vi lenguaje. English is not my first lenguaje.

*gifs not mine.

part one — part two

“Careful there! The fishes swam away again.” The woman pointed at the coral area as she moved the area a little bit.

You nodded to the woman as you took off. You swam to the corals, you knew this was part of the village was off limits. But you would take the fact that the fishes swam off of the fields as an excuse to get closer to the reefs. And either way was the woman’s fault to live this far from the village, far from home.

You swam through the corals you saw the fishes. As you were counting them you couldn’t help but notice a shadow in the surface. A shiver went down your spine as you remember the village rules.

If I hear a growl, I’ll crouch

If I hear a voice, I’ll swim off

If I see a shadow I’ll hide.

You never really understood the villages rules. A shadow of what? Should we just hide to everything we see? The curiosity was killing you slowly as you swear you saw an illu but the other thing that was on top of it you didn’t catch. Only a glimpse wouldn’t kill you right? And besides it’s not like somebody was near to caught you anyways.

As you swam closer and closer to the surface you could feel the nervousness in your body. This was unknown territory but yet you wanted to see what was all the fuzz about. What was the people so scared of?

But when you were about to stick your head to the surface you felt a hard grip on your arm that tugged you to the deep sea. As you saw how the shadow in the surface looked around in confusion for the sudden movement on the sea.

“You shouldn’t have been nowhere near the surface.” Your dad signed at you with angry movements as he directed both of you to the village.

“But why? Why is it so important dad?” You signed lowly as you looked at him with a petty look. You two were getting close to the village. As some curious heads looked at your ways because of the look of that heated conversation.

Then you felt a stop in your tracks as your father let go of your arm in the entrance of your home. Where your mom looked outside with a confused look on why did her husband looked so angry.

“You know really well no one that it’s not a classified hunter goes to the surface and less if it’s really close to the outside of the reef.” Your father mentioned as his facial expression tried to loosen a bit. You even could tell he had a little bit of fear in his eyes, but maybe your sight could’ve been lying to you.

“I know but what if there’s something new, and that’s a whole new place!” You exclaimed with fanatical movements trying to defend your case. You didn’t want to admit that the angry sight of your father also scared you.

“We have one rule.” He signed now more angry than a few minutes ago. The fact that you couldn’t understand what was wrong with what you did made him so angry and scared. He didn’t want to loose you and you knew that.

For the sight of the angry conversation that was happening outside the house-cave, your mother popped out her head to the window to get a better view. And if everything got more heated step out to calm your dad.

It made you doubt your words because of the angry sight of your father. But you didn’t understand what was the need for such rules.

“Yes, an old rule for when we were in danger.” You looked at your mom from the window as she gave you a look of ‘careful with your words’ she was ready to step out to calm your father and you knew it.

“A rule that keeps us safe, Instead of putting in danger our people so you can swim back to the surface.” He grabbed your shoulders hard as he stepped you to the side, some heads of people popped out to see what was all the commotion about.

Your mom then opened the door to step out and grab your hand gently as she gave your father a look for he to step out and calm himself. Your father sighed as he gave his wife a reassuring look back at her.

“Every time I think you’re past this.. you just keep pushing.” He stated with a final decision to end the conversation as he walked the other way. Throwing one of his knifes out of anger to the sand, you look at your mother as she guides you to another place so you two could talk more calmly.

As you guys sat on that rock that was resting a little far from your home your mother give a gently squeeze to your hand, meaning it was time for her to talk and for you to listen.

“I didn’t say I wanted to go to the surface to interact with everything I see. I just wanted to have a little look and go back home.” You looked away not wanting to look at nobody right now. Your mind was filled with the thought on why did he had such a problem with it. Why couldn’t you just look?

“But you still do.” Your mother stated as she gave you a reassuring look, as she sighed “he’s hard on you because—”

“Because he doesn’t get it.”

“Because he was you. Drawn to the surface.” That caught you really off guard. “What do you mean mama?” You look at her as she took your hand and started to tell you a story

He took one of our sea creatures, he went to the surface and got to his path to look to be more closer to the reefs. To see what was found inside, but found an unforgiving sea. Waves like mountains, his best friend begged to be part of that adventure.

But as they focused more on trying to tame the waves of the ocean, they didn’t noticed far away some shadows in the dark. Your father didn’t knew about these creatures until he heard a splash, he thought that his friend went to the village under the sea again. But as he swam to catch up with him and convince him to try again he saw blood.

Blood on the water, as the body of his best friend sinked into the depths of the ocean. A lance stabbed in his chest, his eyes looked at the design memorizing the traces. In panic he went to the surface again to get the sea creature and return to the village as quick as possible. But saw more shadows in the distance looking around, he guessed they were looking for him and his friend as he saw more lances getting thrown at his way.

He decided it was best to let go, and go swimming by himself to the village again. Promising to his family and himself that he would never step again into the surface without the hunter group. And swore with his heart he would never let no one die because of him ever again.

“Your father couldn’t save him.. But he’s hoping he can save you.” She looked at your eyes with a worried look, you didn’t like to make your mother feel this way. But you couldn’t help it, there was just something something that called you to the surface.

“Sometimes, who we wish we were, what we wished we could do… It’s sometimes just not meant to be.” As she putted your hair behind your ear and caressed your cheek you look down, submerging in your own thoughts.

As she stands up and swim away, you sigh and you stand up. Deciding now what you were gonna do you swam to the hunters cave making sure that no one was there you took one of the sea creatures and swam far from the village to the surface.

You cupped your head in the surface breathing Pandoras air for the first time. As your heart started to race and you started to get nervous you rise what was left looking around you saw… Nothing.

“well that’s disappointing isn’t it.” You signed to the sea creature as it laughed at your words.

As you swam more you could see mountains, some rocks and more sea creatures. It was indeed beautiful, you went back inside the ocean as you swam closer to the outside corals. These were a new type, you had never seen before. You looked around to all the corals and the underwater flowers amazed. Why haven’t I gotten here anytime sooner before? You thought to yourself.

But as you submerged in your thoughts, you stopped any type of thing you were doing when you felt a strong force of the water push you away slightly. As you heard some groaning and punching in the distance.

You frowned as you called the sea creature and swam closer to see what was happening, as you saw a big fish creature you’ve never seen bite desperately on some corals that looked like a mini cave. It seemed it was trying to eat something that was inside. Normally you would’ve left the scene when you saw the big sea creature leave if it wasn’t for the sight of a blue boy swimming outside of the corals.

You saw from the distance with wide eyes what was in front of you. A boy that had a blue body darker than yours, with a thin tail and five fingers. You were simply amazed by his figure as you never saw anything like it.

But all of your thoughts were shuttered when you saw the big fish coming rapidly at his way, and judging by the reaction on his face it wasn’t friendly. You grabbed your sea creature and swam to his direction ready to attack. But then a bigger sea creature attacked the fish, by the motion of it it made you and the other guy move in a swing in the water.

You were concentrated viewing the amazing creature in front of you, amazed again by its features. It was a big Tulkun that roamed alone in the water, you thought those were a myth. You never saw one in person and the fact that it was just in front of you made your stomach flutter with excitement.

Your eyes switched from the creature to the boy, who was now sinking in the water. You managed to swim in his direction and catch his arm along with his waist as you swam to the surface with his body.

You thought that the big creature knew what you were trying to do judging by the fact that it wasn’t attacking you or the boy. With its fin it lifted you both to the surface, with a gentle motion you left the boy rest in the upper side of the big creature’s body as you swam to the side of it.

“Can you take care of him for me?” You signed as the creature made a noise that you took as a yes. With a smile you caressed the creatures firm skin as it closed its eyes. ‘really smart for a really big creature’ you thought to yourself. After a while interacting with the creature your eyes switched to the boy rapidly as he started to wake up.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave big guy. Please take care of him as one of your own.” You signed for the last time as the creature nodded in response. With a quick look to the boy that was already looking at you blinking a few times you grabbed your sea creature and took off to the depths of the ocean.

You arrived to the village after a while, settling down in a spot a little away from the villages closed eyes. You didn’t wanna cause a scene, so you decided this was the best spot. Your sea creature rested laying down to the sea sand really tired because of all the commotion of the day.

You smiled a little at this, but it turned into a hiss when you felt a sharp pain in your right ankle. It had a wound, you didn’t noticed because of all the things that happened earlier. You started to scan the wound as you winced

“Whatever just happened here..” Your head snapped at the sudden question, looking from where it came from your eyes landed on your grandma. Whom was looking at the position you were in and at the sea creature besides you. “Blame it on the creature.”

“Gramma!” You tried to hide your wounded ankle, but her hand was fast to grab your leg and lift it so she can scan your wound. “Are you going to tell dad?” You asked with a worried look when she chuckled

“I’m his mom. I don’t have to tell him anything.” She tells you with a smile letting go of your leg. “Although you have to go check your ankle, your parents wouldn’t like having you wounded.” You sighed at her words looking away from he sight.

“I think dad was right. It’s time for me to act up and start my training to become the next chief.” You looked away, with a sigh still remembering earlier. Who was that boy? Why did he had such different features? What was he?

“Well, okay then. Go get your training, become the chief that your people needs.” Her words took you off guard, with a smile she went closer to the corals of the village. Seeing how little fishes that slowly started to light up because of the eclipse. You doubted on going, turning to her.

“Why aren’t you talking me out of it?” You asked with a playful frown. Not meaning to sound rude, but you were very confused.

“You said that’s what you wanted.”

“it is.” She looked at you, with a smile as she continued scanning the corals doing a weird motion with her hands. “Why are you acting so weird?” You asked with a frown, she chuckled at your words.

“I’m the village crazy lady. That’s my job.” She signed at you but continuing with the motion of her hands. It started to make you anxious, as if she was hiding something.

“If there’s something you would like to tell me you know you can just tell me!” With rapid motions she looked at you from the corner of her eye.

“is there something you want to hear?” She signed with a playful smile, she took your hand and swim off to her house far from the hold of the village.

As you enter you saw well crafted baskets and drawings from the children of the village. It seem sweet to you how she saved all of them maybe to save some memory of them? You sat down in the floor as she took a little box and open it, revealing some weird bows and knives and some song cords?

“Why do you have all of this?” You asked her as she smiled at you gently. She took the song cord out of the box you scanned the designs they were foreign.

“You have been told our people’s stories. But one.” You looked at her, without believing her words for a second. “Well what story?” You signed with a confused demeanor.

“Do you think we are the only type of people in Pandora?” She asked as you looked at her, expecting. “Well, for a long long time even before we existed..”

There have been people that lived in Pandora. The original habitants, they were going for the name Na’vi. Tall blue people that lived amongst the forest, ocean, etc. The Natives were hostile towards our people in the begging, killing them, thinking we were some sort of threat to the people.

So we hid, for a long long times we hid in the surface. Running from them, from the outside world who hunted us down by only existing. Our ancestors found out that we were more special than we thought, we could breathe underwater. A place that brings you happiness, peace and prosperity. Why do you think we’re so different than other creatures?

We have antennas that light up in the darkest nights. But this is something that the people don’t tell you, our antennas are very special. They allow us to communicate our emotions and feel others peoples emotions by only a touch. That’s why we have such strong connections with the animals. And who knows, maybe you could manipulate them too. But those are just myths.

“The question you ask yourself, who you are and who you are meant to be. That’s something that you need to figure out on your own.” Your grandma looked at you with a gentle demeanor that made you feel safe. “But who knows, I’m just the villages crazy lady .” She winked at you and chuckled, you smiled at her actions feeling as this was your safe space.

You took off swimming back to the village. Excited by the information she just gave you. Your gramma smiled at your actions, but then she started to cough. Hard.

You were swimming to your home rapidly eager to tell your mom everything. But you got caught by your father in the path, you looked at him nervously as he frowned. But then took your hand in a gentle grab as he signed to you

“Come on. I have something to show you.” He told you to then swim to the other direction. “What is it dad?” You asked him confused as he didn’t sign a word. Just swimming.

After a while, you arrived to a coral area and you saw an open cave. “I’ve wanted to bring you here since the moment you opened your eyes.” He signed with a smile plastered all over his face.

As you got closer you could see some lances hanging off the walls of the cave. With beautiful stones in them and a gorgeous but really precise decoration. Some of them with really ancient ones, that it made you analyze them more and your father noticed this chuckling at your action.

“This is a sacred place. A place of chiefs.” He signed with a proud demeanor as he looked at his ancestors lances on the walls. “One day, when you make your own lance with your special stone and hang it there. Like I did and like my father did and all of our bloodline.” You were tracing your hand through the lances admiring their beauty.

But you couldn’t deny the fact that it did scare you a bit. The fact that you had to face care of all the village, take your responsibilities as the clans chief and do it on your own. You knew that you will have your dad by your side, but it still scared you a bit. Taking all this responsibility for yourself one day, and disappoint your people.

“And when you put your lance on the wall, you will bring prosperity to our people.” He said with pride, as you looked at him worriedly. “You are the future of our people Ma syulang. And they are not out there, they are right here.” He caressed your cheek when he saw your nervous look. Trying to bring you some comfort as his words sinked in you. “It’s time to be who you need to be.”

You tried to give your father a reassuring smile, but the sound of a horn blow stopped all of your and your fathers actions paying attention to where do the sound come from and why.

“Chief! It’s your Sa’nok. Something is wrong with her.” The guy from the village approached in a rush. Making you and your dad panic slightly, as you guys swam off to the village as fast as you could. Trying to not think of the worst, but guess that that could be what was about to happen.

#avatar x reader #avatar #payakan #loak sully #avatar 2009 #i should be asleep rn #neteyam #kiri sully #tsireya #aonung #tukitrey

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frosty-mage · 6 months

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YGO OC Week Day 1: Introduction!

Hi all! This is my favorite YGO blorbo, Penelope Smith! She's designed for the VRAINS setting, though there are a few instances where she gets thrown in other settings for fun.

More info on her below the break! (Also, all of the art here is commissioned; credit is in the alt-text.)

Appearance

Penelope Smith is young woman with mostly-straight light brown hair that falls to her upper back, who stands around 5'8" in height. She can often be seen in the Den City High uniform, coupled with a pink, heart-shaped hairpin above her left eye. In addition to the uniform, she often wears white leggings that go to the lower part of her thigh. She has green eyes and almost always has a cheery expression.

She also has a VRAINS avatar, Transcendence, but details of that will come at a later day!

Personality

Penelope is helpful and excitable to a fault. She will always do her best to help out others, often to her own detriment in terms of time commitment. As a result, she is often pulled in many directions to the point of tiring herself out, but she manages to keep up a cheery demeanor all the time. Any stress that she does encounter gets bottled up, lest she show signs of weakness or cracks in her personality to others.

Her outlook could be described as "pragmatically optimistic". She is always hopeful that things will work out, but she believes things will get better because she (and others) will make them better.

If she were asked why she has that worldview and demeanor, she'd say that she wants to be the person she needed a few years ago. She needed positivity, so she brings it. She needed hope and a friend, so she brings it. She needed honesty and security, so she brings it.

Of course, the drawback to wanting to be so friendly, open, and generous is that she can often be extremely naive and manipulable. She often forgets that people can lie and is very easy to take advantage of; she often gives the benefit of the doubt to others when she really shouldn't.

Her name, Penelope, was chosen because she was reforging herself. She kept her prior last name. (Out of character, that was chosen because she's a machine user.)

Biography

Penelope was born [REDACTED] to loving parents. She partook in many standard activities for her age, and her father helped to instill in her a love of robotics. He also taught her how to play Duel Monsters.

However, when she transitioned near the start of puberty, she was the subject of much bullying, and many of her friends turned on her. Conveniently, around the same time, her family had to move away, so she never really got to have closure on her former friends would have treated her; her new classmates only knew her as Penelope.

She spent the next several years of her life in Den City, continuing her research and schooling. She remained near the top of her class academically.

During the events of VRAINS, she wanted to help, but didn't know how, and was risk-averse enough to avoid being caught in the crossfire of many of the incidents.

Deck

Penelope uses a Crystron deck. The cards allow her to adapt to the situation as needed, keeping herself flexible, while also being defensive.

She has a deep appreciation for Crystron Citree and sees it as a parallel to herself; she likes to find people who are in their darkest hour and drag them out to become something better than they ever were.

(There are also other canons of her which have used other decks, including Machina, Geargia, and the custom archetype of Reclamatron, but they aren't relevant here.)

@ygoc-week

#ygo #vrains oc #penelope #yugioh oc week 23 #my ocs

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nilsavatar · 7 months

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DAY 4 - SPANKING

Parings: Jake x Fem!avatar

Genre/Warnings: NSFW/MDNI +18, no use of Y/N, SMUT in the end, P in V, spanking, use of pet names (baby girl, sir), dom Jake, age gap, mentor-student relationship (difference in power), one night stand, cheating, mention of Lo'ak x oc, Spider has a crush on her. All characters are AGED-UP.

Summary: Aubree (reader) has just arrived on Pandora, her lifelong dream finally coming true. But a series of misfortunes will lead her to share a passionate moment with the sexy Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya. Starting with a broken shower.

Inside you will find a hint of Lo'ak x OC. Let me know if you would like a version with him as well.

Word Count: 5k

Masterlist - Request a fic

“So, it is settled? There will be new entries in the AVTR Program. I don’t like the sound of it.” The last part was said in a whisper that Norm heard anyway, thanks to the amplified senses of his Na’vi-like body. “We’re understaffed, Jake. They’re trusted people, among the best minds on Earth, who love this moon just as much as we do.” “You love it so much that you rejected Faanì’s advances,” he chuckled. “That woman terrifies me. She is so…” “Confident, go-getter?” “‘Encroaching, pushy.” “Hey, it’s the Omatikaya ways,” he shrugged his shoulders. “They’re used to being straightforward, and taking what they want.” “Ignoring her isn’t direct enough?” “Evidently, their extreme sincerity doesn’t let them acknowledge the hidden meaning behind your evasiveness. Also, Faanì has several suitors; your coldness will be the reason for her apparent obsession.”“Apparent, really?” “Admit it, you’re at least a little pleased. She’s a stunner, and she’s totally into you. Come on, loosen up a bit. It’s fine to have fun sometimes. You're the last unmated dreamwalker and one of the few who didn't opt for the permanent consciousness transfer. Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about…” His silence was as loud as a scream. “It won’t bring her back. And that's not what she'd have wanted. You know that, right? Anyway, when are they getting here?” “In a week.”

“I thought you would make the first link with your avatar as soon. ”When her fingers touched the cold, metallic handle, she almost exulted. Dusk was fast approaching, and she longed to rid herself of the sticky, humid rainforest heat by jumping into the shower. Her head bent to hold her cell between ear and shoulder, a clipboard wedged under her armpit, and her badge lined up haphazardly toward the lector on the door.

"That's not how it rolls," she said, holding back a chuckle. “They put me through some tests first. Linkage can be risky if you're not in tip-top shape. I was in cryo for six years and woke up on a whole new world. You should know better than me, doc.” The woman on the other end of the phone chortled. “What can I say? I’m a therapist. Mind’s my thing; the rest is in the hands of you geniuses.”

The unlocking beep was covered by the resounding clapping of the paperwork that slipped from under her arm. Great. She rolled her eyes at the ceiling, opening the door and pushing the fallen papers in with one foot. Then she disposed of her purse and badge, leaving them on the shelf at the entrance. Aubree was about to answer her, but her voice lost its importance the moment the trill of an incoming email rose from the small monitor on the desk.

“It’s Max. My exams are ready. Tomorrow's the big day! My avatar's coming out of the incubator and I'm making my first connection.” “Amazing! Go freshen up, grab a good meal, and hit the hay early. Tomorrow’s gonna be a tiring day and the experience of the first link may be traumatic.” “Are you speaking as a friend or a psychologist?” “As both?” “Consider it done, Liv. Rest assured.” “And tomorrow night we’re going to have a momentous hangover. To celebrate.” The scientist smiled. “Doesn’t sound like very professional advice.” “Hey, I've been waiting for you on Pandora for a year! You finally got your doctorate, and you're not gonna party? You're the worst, you know that?” “Technically, I got it six years ago.” “But for you, it’s like it was yesterday. It’s a lot to process. What do you think we therapists are here for?” “Norm’s not gonna be so happy.” She heard her exclaim, “Can’t wait! Tomorrow it is! And eat.” “Aye, aye. See you tomorrow,” she signed off before hanging up.

She huffed as she laid the papers neatly on the desk, went to the bathroom, and hurriedly undressed, opening the jet. As soon as the cold water rained down on her heated skin, she let out a sigh of relief. Aubree hated the hot weather, the bugs, the sweaty clothes. All things she hadn’t considered moving here, but still wouldn’t make a difference. In the summer, on weekdays, she took two showers a day, sometimes one even at night when the mugginess prevented her from sleeping. Occasionally, she wondered where she found the strength to get out of bed at three in the morning to shower.

Out of the blue, as she was soaping her hair, the jet went off. She tried to turn it back on a couple of times, before walking out of the stall cursing, grabbing a towel to rub her skin and hair. Then she put on the first thing that came her way and left the room at a brisk pace. She refused to skip her beloved evening shower.

The girl walked down the long corridor until it opened onto the link beds wing, where she knew she would find Norm. And indeed, there he was, emerging from his pod; a tired expression painted on his face. Waiting for him, besides the medical team, was a tall Na’vi in warrior garb who struggled to keep his back straight because of his size. Just further away, another pair of natives who appeared noticeably younger, her peers presumably, but equally warriors judging by the cummerbund that wrapped around their ribcage. They whispered and nudged each other while laughing at something only they knew.

Their somber vociferation was abruptly ceased at the entrance of the girl, who, if she had not been so stymied, would have noticed the astonished stares and the sudden muteness filling the room. With the soles of her bare feet flapping in stride, her hair glossy with shampoo, her clothes clinging to the non-dry skin and showing off more than they should, and a livid expression, she planted herself in front of Norm, who stared at her with some embarrassment and intimidation, although the woman was noticeably smaller than him.

And the same could have been said for poor Jake, who tried to focus on everything else as long as he did not look down at her cleavage. The damp fabric not only perfectly outlined her breasts but also highlighted her air-conditioned nipples. The darker areolas showing through the white material, pointing at him like a pair of eyes.

“Norm.” She called caustically, and for a moment Jake swore he sensed him trembling under the accusatory tone with which she pronounced his name. Shit, he himself had felt an electric shock run down his spine and pour into his lower abdomen. "This is the third time in two weeks," she accused, arms crossed, foot tapping. That simple gesture lifted her chest just enough to knock the corporal’s breath away, the loincloth getting tighter and tighter. She was a sassy one. ”Something's definitely wrong with the hydraulics. We can't keep this up.”

At those words for a moment, the man felt pulled in, as if she was referring to his own plumbing problem. Well hidden between his legs, thank goodness.

“We will arrange it.” “We’d better.” At that point, Jake cleared his throat to signal that, yes, he was still there. “Um, Aubree, this is Jake Sully. Jake, Aubree Young, our fresh addition to the Avatar Program.” “Aubree, the PhD student. Nice to meet you.” She had to suppress a groan hearing the syllables of her name roll across his tongue; it was almost like feeling them tickle her back, spoken in that muted, persuasive voice. The girl was petrified under his impassive gaze (Jake was a talented actor); she had seen him portrayed several times. He was practically a rock star, but he didn’t look so handsome in pictures, which just didn’t do him justice — especially to those eyes. He extended his large hand toward her, however, she responded by bringing two fingers to the center of her forehead to draw an arc, bowing in respect. “Olo’eyktan, smon nìprrte’ (nice to meet you).”

Fuck, did she have to bow like that? From that angle, he could see her bosom in all its youthful splendor. A woman in her prime. Deliciously round and full against the thin material.

“Holy shit!” burst out a voice behind them. Spider. “What the heck happened to you?”

Like a bucket of ice water, finally, the revelation of her scant coverage crashed over her. She looked down at her body, realizing that she had her breasts basically sticking out, and a muffled sigh left her lips. In a magnanimous gesture, a colleague offered her his gown, which she fastened onto the very last button, mortified.

The lips of the Na’vi boy with the shaved right side of his head tensed in a thin grin, and a subtle — or rather, sadistic — gleam animated his eyes, not even deigning to move them from just below her face. “You do seem to have a conflictual relationship with underwear,” he subtilized wryly. Aubree wished the floor would have swallowed her all: she had forgotten her bra. “Lo’ak!” the other two Na’vi called back to him in unison, and he turned away without showing the slightest touch. “We’ve raised you better than that.” Jake wished he could have been more severe in his rebuke, but it was undeniable that his little dig had affected him.

What did he mean by that? The girl had a habit of publicly displaying herself in such an… unbecoming way? More likely she was just a hothead. Annoyance had driven her out of her room in that attire.

“Still the broken shower,” Spider guessed. “Yeah,” in all her awkwardness, still a hint of irritation shone through from the young woman’s mumbling. “My offer is still on the table until things get sorted.” "Thanks, but I don't want to be a burden. Liv said I can shower at her place. Anyway, Norm, please do me a favor and find a solution.” The man nodded, sensing more than well what she implied: ‘For your sake and peace of mind.’ She would haunt him until her bathroom was repaired.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Liv blocked a forkful halfway through to look up at her. ”I’d prefer that, trust me.” “Did you show up in front of the olo’eyktan and his sons drenched from head to toe, and with your tits out?” “I didn’t have my tits out!” “They weren’t in place either, though.” Her friend sighed, chewing quietly. “So, what do you plan to do?” “Ignore it?” ”Acting like it didn't happen won't make it go away.” “I will not humiliate myself further by going to apologize. I won't have many chances to meet with them, anyway.” “Probably not the clan leader or his eldest. But Lo’ak…” the tone in which she mentioned him did not please the doctoral student at all. “Speak.” ”He's a total jerk. He'll make your life a living hell after that. Avoid him at all costs.”

Aubree could add nothing else, not sure she could trust her voice as she settled what a mess she had just gotten herself into. She had come to Pandora to chase her dream, to make a difference and find her place in the universe, not to be gratuitously humiliated and mocked by an overgrown kid. No way she would allow that, not at twenty-seven.

With the addition of avatars as potential new clan members among the Omatikaya, a new rite of passage emerged - the Introduction. In general, it was comparable to the period when native adolescents were ready to embark on the path of rebirth. A night festival was dedicated to them in which dreamwalkers presented themselves to the people. It had been unofficially established for a few years now and usually coincided with the avatar’s optimal body mastery. It had taken Aubree a couple of weeks, a period when Lo’ak had not exactly spared her from prying and equivocal jokes and glances, but now that she was officially an avatar in training to become Omatikaya, things could only get worse.

Lo’ak was her assigned mentor.

To describe that being formed by the youngest Sully son was awful was an understatement. It was pure torture.His sole purpose was to torment her from the moment she stepped outside Hell’s Gate until the moment she put it back in. From sunrise to sunset, seven days a week - excluding a few sporadic days of freedom. Usually spent doing the work for which she had come to Pandora. Studying.

Fatigue marked her face to where it was impossible not to notice, and Lo’ak was keen to let her know he had noticed.

“Trouble sleeping, princess? Did they stick a pea under your mattress? Or maybe you had a wild night out. Bummer I couldn’t be there. I wouldn't mind seeing those pretty little boobies again.”

Asshole.

One day, dealing with the guy had become particularly untenable. Aubree needed to do something, and fast.

She interrupted the day's training and rushed back to headquarters to confront Norm and the olo'eyktan. Too bad the latter intercepted her first.

“Wuo-oh-oh, what’s going on here? Where you off to?” “I can’t take it anymore,” she confessed, almost breathlessly. “Your son is...is...” She would have had many unkind epithets to call him, one meaner than the other, convinced that Lo’ak deserved them all, from first to last, but in front of his father, she bit her tongue, merely grunting. “Lo’ak can be... difficult,” he said it as if an entire ecosystem was encapsulated in that simple word. And to some extent, it fulfilled its purpose, but simultaneously, it fell short. “What if we switch places?” “Excuse me?” “Since things aren’t going smoothly between the two of you, I’ll mentor you from now on.”

That was the beginning of the end.

Jake was a good karyu (teacher). Patient and understanding, aware of Aubree’s limited physical abilities. The girl was not a soldier; she was a lab rat, a bookworm, and going too hard on training made no sense. The man had a kindness towards her he had never shown, even to his daughters. Almost too permissive, and this made the Ph.D. student forget he was not just anyone.

Jake was the olo’eyktan of the Omatikaya.

This made her bold and overconfident. The formal tone disappeared with his title, replaced by more casual conversations, banters, and wry remarks. Sometimes even unmistakable glances. The boundaries of their teacher-student relationship were blurring into something unknown and dangerous. It was unseemly for Aubree to have a crush on him.

The girl took pains to hide her true emotions. He was a committed man; she repeated to herself, complete with children, and he was at least twice her age. She couldn't help but think about the man's age, which was old enough to be her father. But damn, she had never seen a hotter dad. He was smoking hot.

Shit, stop it right NOW.

“Are you still with me?” “Pardon?” “Stop daydreaming. Let's be honest, you do it often. It doesn’t work. Not if you aspire to be one of us.”

One of them. She wondered if she had what it took to give up her humanity. She shouldn’t desire someone else’s man to begin with.

“Let’s get back into position. Back straight, one foot back, hold your breath and draw your bow.” Jake stood behind her. “Your arms are too stiff.” His hands slipped from her shoulders and reached for her pelvis to turn it properly, but that made her gasp. He frowned as if to scold her for losing her posture.

He seemed to be in a foul mood today. The usual patience he seemed to reserve for her was gone. Aubree couldn’t see the growing frustration that had been eating at him since he had met her. She had no inkling of the thoughts that were gnawing at his soul. His mind kept wandering to the forbidden scenarios he dreamed up. Fantasies he should not have had, not about her. He was about to say something biting, but when he saw her face, the words vanished.

She had shiny round eyes, blushing cheeks and nose, and inviting parted lips. A purplish hue was about to invade her neck.

If he had kept staring, she would have seen him coming for sure. Instead, he ran right into her. With barely a rustle in the air, he forcefully lifted her face with his hand and imprinted his mouth onto hers. She stumbled backward, her head slamming against the tree bark. The impact left her momentarily dazed and a sharp pain shot through her skull. Closing her eyes or making any movement was impossible, as he had a vice-like grip on her cheek and neck. She tried to wriggle out of that almost grotesque contact.

What was it? A kiss? His lips were sealed, his body tense against hers and his forehead contracted. The grip mean. She pushed him away harder with the sudden urge to scream at him and finally broke away. She caught a flash of something in his eyes. Perhaps it was anger and welcomed it as a reflection of her own. The hand snapped automatically, and the acute pop on his cheek was as liberating as the burning in her palm. Aubree did not speak, still furious, and Jake took a few seconds to turn his face toward her.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” he said, seemingly calm despite his clenched jaw and flashing gaze. She dared not answer, which only caused a sinister smile to cripple the man’s handsome face. “You’re in big trouble, baby girl.”

“Where are we?” ”The old shack." “But you said—.” “I know what I said,” he snapped. She bit her lip to stifle any giggles and we entered the abandoned, silent mobile laboratory, uncertain whether to say anything. Suddenly, the boldness she had had up to that moment seemed to disappear under the flickering neon light of the links section.

Aubree took courage and ventured to lift her head. It was like flipping a switch. The tension grew, and the door leading to the food court opened. At least a dozen scenes played out in slow motion in her mind, as they looked at each other reflected in the mirrored wall that outlined one side of the small room. But Jake didn’t look intent on taking her there. Not right away, at least.

Why wasn’t he talking? His lips were tight and his posture tense. Perhaps she had misinterpreted and was not attracted to her.

In silence, they reached one last door, which must have been broken down, because Jake had to force it open. He stepped aside to let her in, and with a hint of anxiety, she stepped forward into the dimly lit interior. The woman could distinguish a couch, a series of monitors on the wall, a few photos. The sound of the door closing behind her made her jerk, and she turned toward him, truncating him, already watching her.

“Jake.” Was he not going to turn on the light?

He approached her with an indecipherable expression, her heart beat faster in her chest, but she sighed with relief when she smelled his scent again. A million questions clogged her throat.

“Jake.” “Hmm?” “Do you want me?” she asked him in a thread of voice. His lips brushed her forehead, and she felt him smile in the darkness. “If I want you...” he said, leaving the sentence hanging. He grabbed her by the arm, making her turn around, and pushed her against the door. Then he made her body cling to his and whispered in her ear, “You’re having fun, aren’t you, little girl?” She felt goose bumps forming where his breath blew. “Doing what?” she asked, resting her head against the metal surface of the door. “To challenge me,” he said, rubbing his lips on her neck in an imaginary path. “That’s all you’ve been doing since I met you.” His rough voice was setting her on fire. “In that little white dress, without a bra, I’ve been thinking about it for days.” “I thought Na’vi didn’t mind nudity,” she provoked him.

I’m not Na’vi.

Jake closed his hands over her breasts and in response she bent her neck back, parting her lips to gather more oxygen. He lifted his arm, but before she could touch him, he grabbed both her wrists and locked them above her head. Then his lips were on her again, more firmly this time. She could distinctly feel the contours, the softness, the moist saliva that impregnated them. He found a flap under her earlobe and took it between his teeth, sucking lasciviously; Aubree stifled a moan and tried to move against him. It was not enough for her; she wanted more, much more. The fire was raging.

“Come,” he said, barely moving away. “Huh?” she mumbled, confusedly. He detached himself from her without letting go of her wrists and guided her to the sofa he had been eyeing earlier. Aubree would have liked to look at his face to see what he was up to, but she dared not to talk back. “Hands on the backrest.” The authoritative tone, the deep voice, left no room; this was the Olo’eyktan speaking. She swallowed and slowly placed her palms on the solid cushions. “Bend over,” he ordered again, and she shuddered as a strange instinct was surfacing within her. The scientist obeyed silently and turned her head, resting her left cheek, surely flushed, on the fabric. She could feel her heart pulsing against her rib cage and the edge of the couch pressing against her sternum.

She felt his hands curve over her hips and slide down to the fastening of her shorts. “From now on, these clothes are banned. You wanna be Omatikaya? Be Omatikaya.” With a powerful tug, he pulled them down. Aubree distinctly heard the fibers tearing. “You can keep these instead,” he asserted, running his fingers along the fabric of her lace panties. The woman held her breath as his icy fingers caressingly furrowed the flesh of her bottom.

As he thought about it, Jake realized that the delicate fiber and intricate designs of Earth women's lingerie were something he missed.

“No shenanigans to throw? You are so quiet,” he provoked her, and she exhaled an eager giggle. “On the other hand, you are talkative, sir.”

A harsh, searing pain shot through her the moment his hand spanked her; the air choked in her throat and she squinted. She licked her dry lips and let out a hiss.

“Say my name,” he ordered peremptorily, and she realized he had done it on purpose. He wanted her to answer him so that he could continue. Aubree didn’t really know the direction she was going, but she heard how a voice called to her like a muse. “Ma’olo’eyktan?” she ventured, and clenched her jaw, wincing at his second slap. She felt the vibration of his palm transmit throughout her body and the girl had no more doubts. The rush of glee that had electrified her brain was caused precisely by him. “Mr. Sul—.” He changed angles swiftly and she could not hold back the trembling moan that rang out perfectly clear in the silence. His hand caressed the burning skin and bent over her. “Don’t hold back,” he told her before another clapper echoed through the air. Her legs trembled, and this time, her cunt pulsed in response. Aubree moved her arms and clutched the edges of the pillows, searching for any foothold as she felt lost in a completely unfamiliar ocean of dire pleasure.

The fifth spank made her neck tense, and her lips twisted into a mute and perfect O, still trying to suppress any sound. She waited for a handful of seconds for his hand, which did not come, and relaxed her muscles. The pop came unexpectedly and louder than the previous ones. She groaned, caught by surprise.

She heard him click his tongue and his feet spread her legs; the embarrassment of being totally exposed suddenly rained down on her, but she could not move a muscle. His hand slipped between her thighs and peeled back the texture of her thong; his fingers grazed her glistening intimacy, and he moved them slowly, before slipping one in with disarming ease. She opened her eyes wide at that single touch and moaned even louder.

“Oh, come on, I barely grazed you...” his voice was hoarse, mocking, and he went deeper, beginning to kiss her back. Aubree hated the camisole that separated his lips from her skin. Her thoughts now disconnected, and arched her spine as she reached an exceptionally sensitive spot.

“Jake, please,” she gasped, and he bit her shoulder, now completely spread-eagled on her. Aubree sensed his erection pressing against her thigh and levered her arms up. She couldn’t take it anymore. She forced him up and turned away, ignoring the dizziness that rose from that sudden movement.

It must have surprised him, because he did not react immediately. She looked at him, scarcely illuminated by the moonlight glow peeking through the window. He was so handsome it was sickening. Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him, pushing him backward toward the couch. He grabbed her neck with his hand and pulled her away, stiffening. She could not look into his eyes, but she could hear his breath catch.

What was he thinking about? Were the kisses too intimate? Was this something reserved for Neytiri? He could fuck others like concubines, but he couldn’t romance? Was he going to punish her again?

She would never have known, but a few seconds later, it no longer mattered; Jake fiercely brought his mouth together with hers. His warm tongue explored the watery interior, the groove of teeth, rubbing against its twin. He took her head in his hands and she felt as light as a balloon, as if she had been drugged. She encircled him with her arms to hold him close, but the man reversed the situation and she found herself lying on the couch.

He stood for a few seconds and she looked down at her without a word as he unbuckled his warrior waistband, then abandoned on the floor somewhere. He was on top of her and Aubree soured on his scent, kissing any spot she could reach, hearing him swear at the loincloth.

His movements became eager. He carelessly slipped off her panties and spread her legs apart, tracing her body with his palms and then bringing her wrists over her head. The man entered her all the way, without warning, and she stifled a gasping sob in response to his choked sigh; he took a fast, pounding rhythm right away and the slight initial discomfort soon vanished. She encircled his waist with her legs, pinning him against her, without registering that her thong was sagging to her ankle, and tried to go at him with her pelvis.

Each mighty thrust was a jab into the bowels and then invest a violent sensation of enjoyment. The scientist murmured something incoherent as she felt the thrusts become erratic; he bent over her, felt her labored breath in his hair and branded her neck with the outline of his canines. She emitted a hoarse wail and realized she was close.

“Let m-my ... arms,” sounded more like a plea. The desire to hold him had become irresistible and disruptive. “Forget it. Come for me, baby girl.” The arching sound of that nickname set her on fire permanently. Liquid waves swept over her, clouding her thoughts, and her vocal cords made it inexorably clear, echoing through the hall like an echo.

He sank into her again, two, three, four strokes, before emitting a low moan and coming out of her, spilling onto her belly.

Aubree could not tell how long they stood listening to each other’s heart relaxed. Jake slumped to her side, releasing her wrists, and she brought a hand between his dark dreadlocks: they were softer and smoother than one might imagine. As she re-emerged from that velvet bamboozlement, she felt him rise from her.

Noises came from somewhere in the old, abandoned workshop. Then his figure came back into her field of vision, leaning over her to gently clean her abdomen. The woman was grateful because she felt as if sucked out of all energy.

She had not felt so deeply fulfilled in a very long time and wanted to enjoy that feeling to the fullest.

“You good to go back to HQ on your own?” he asked her, finishing removing his traces from her, breaking the magic. “Yes,” she murmured in a whisper, slightly intimidated and incredibly embarrassed now that reality was shattering over her.

It had been a quickie, a onetime thing consummated with the urgency of provocation getting the better on common sense.

Jake was Olo’eyktan, a family man with a spouse to whom he owed his devotion. An episode like that would never happen again, and Aubree clung to it as if that memory was worth her life.

The memory of the day she had really gotten into big, big trouble.

Notes: this fanfic did not turn out at all as I had wished, it should have been much longer, with a richer storyline, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. Hope you liked it💕

Special thanks to @pandoraslxna for the prompt!

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wariofranchisefanblog · 6 months

Text

A new WarioWare has come out and I got enough playtime in to feel comfortable talking about it in full, so I’ll do just that.

Right off the bat I can say in short: this is a good game and a good WarioWare. Not up there with my favs, but it does a lot right. My experience did end up quite differently than anticipated and I’ll explain why soon enough.

First I want to talk about the presentation, which I think is an easy high point. Everything is vibrant and colorful, the art keeps showing the strengths of the current style and everything feels very much like it should. Microgames run that perfect mix of genuinely nice looking and deliberately cursed and the cutscenes are the best of both worlds, being smooth and lively, while returning to Gold’s full voice acting.

Speaking of cutscenes, that brings us to the story related stuff and that’s where the game shows some interesting tricks up its sleeves. In terms of structure it’s a return to the pre-Gold era, with the closest to an overarching theme being the vacation set-up.

I do think the Ware crew is in top form, likable, fun and full of life as always and two stories in particular even do something major.

Kat and Ana’s story marks the shocking return of Cractus, bringing a Wario Land character into WarioWare and Young Cricket’s story sees his Kung-Fu Ball partner finally brought into WarioWare properly. Both of those are really massive and show a willingness to more heavily utilize elements from other parts of the verse, which I find incredibly exciting.

Oddly enough, the weaker link of the story for me this time is Wario himself. Now don’t get me wrong, everything that happens here is usual Wario antics and I do like how non–english versions of the script like japanese and german, have him be actually be nice about bringing the others along. His confusion at the Crygor drawings and later ascending to godhood, with the cast roll confirming he got a happy end, are all good too, plenty of nice stuff here.

He just feels weirdly absent here. Having no presence in the Remix stages, no bonus mode in his image and even the final stage has him stuck being cursed to have his face be the avatar of an angry volcano. It doesn’t really feel like Wario and ends with him being the only one of the cast with no moment to shine during the climax, which I can’t help but find a little disappointing.

Still, it’s not a big deal, after so many games Wario taking a slight backseat isn’t a dealbreaker, it just stood out a little.

Moving away from that, there is the audio side of things. The music as usual is full of unapologetically catchy jingles and some major stand-out tracks such as MegaGame Muscles and the Form Guide theme.

We got full voice acting again and with it our first taste of Kevin Afghani as Wario. Pre-release stuff had me very on and off with how I felt about it, but having heard all of him in the game: yeah, I like him! He does have some wonky deliveries, but the overall voice still feels like Wario and has its own fun appeal. Certainly more noticeably different than Mario and Luigi, but I am optimistic Kevin will greatly grow into the role, as he gets to play him more and more.

Then we get to the big one, the gameplay and this is where I was thrown for a loop the most. With this being a direct Smooth Moves successor I thought I’d know what to expect, but was quite caught off-guard in many places.

This surprisingly ended up being the most difficult WarioWare for me by a long-shot, enough that I actually had to take advantage of the second chance mechanic, which I never had to do in Gold and GiT.

If I had to sum the game up in one word, it would be demanding, Wario commanding you to move it is not just a funny title, it’s the name of the game.

With the Wiimote, you could get away with just sorta doing the poses in a lot of cases, but Move It really demands you do the exact poses, down to holding the Joycon juuuust the right way.

More than anything I was surprised how strict it could be in that regard, not following the form instructions is asking for trouble, but I have to say, at the same token I was amazed how well things worked once I got the hang of it.

I’ll admit, I was ill while playing the game, so maybe that caused me to be a little more daft than usual, but it took me a bit to really get into it and I had to consult the museum several times for some microgames to figure out what I even needed to do.

I do think the game is a touch more complicated than usual for WarioWare, since you have to take effectively two controllers and specific poses into account, on top of grasping what each microgame demands of you, but once it clicks everything feels well thought out and purposeful. Getting things down is immensely satisfying and shows some really stunning results of what the Joycon can do.

That said the game isn’t entirely without jank, Hand Model being a notable culprit of it. The game finds several fun applications for it, but anything regarding reading forms or how many fingers you hold up, can be really clunky in the heat of the moment. In general, the strictness of the forms also means you need to really be prepared for every microgame, since slouching with your form could lead to a bad desync

Still, even with some jank I do think stepping up to the challenge to get a feel of it and get better is very much worth it. I wasn’t sure how to feel at first, but my opinion on it only went up the more I played.

That covers it for the main stages, as for the side-content though, yeah, that is where the game shows a weaker side of itself.

Not so much in terms of what’s here though. You got your standard towers, as well as MegaGame Muscles, which no joke, may be my favorite stage in the game. It’s frantic, fun, the music slaps and the set-up of Mr. Sparkles having ascended to being a literal god of fitness, is pure WarioWare.

The new Pyoro game of the day is a fun, different take on it, much like the one in Smooth Moves was as well and Dirty Job is a cool bonus game expansion of a more stand-out microgame concept.

That is really it as far as the single player content is concerned though and it does feel a liiiittle on the meager side. No souvenirs, which Smooth Moves and GiT didn’t have either, but Smooth Moves had more bonus games and GiT had the final Pyoro stage, Penny Remix, more bonus games, unlockable art and the Wario Cup.

We do still have a decent variety of multiplayer modes to work with and I did get a friend to come on by to try them, save for the 4 player exclusive one.

I think it’s a good selection, in concept it has the best multiplayer mode offerings since Mega Party Games (though I did like GiT a lot too), but there is one issue I have with it and I think GiT was a little guilty of it too.

As I mentioned, I do think there is a learning curve on how to play this game most effectively and you feel that even more in multiplayer, where someone not as in the know, is naturally gonna accidentally grip his Joycon slightly wrong, despite doing the pose and need some extra instructions, much like the characters in GiT can take some learning.

It is something you can overcome and have a good time with, WarioWare is a very good ‘’don’t take me too seriously’’ kind of multiplayer experience, but on the whole, if they want a true party game WarioWare, I still think something simpler like Mega Party Games is in order and by all means, I wouldn’t mind them doing something like that again.

On a side note, I also find it a bit of a shame that the nice new models for the cast, updated to resemble their designs in this game, are ultimately watered down to sprites of their heads during multiplayer gameplay. With how much emphasis is being put on multiplayer to carry the game for longer, I think it would have been nice if they put in the work to fully animate GiT-style models for the multiplayer modes.

That small gripe aside, as I said, I think multiplayer is fine, but not quite the pick up and play experience for people new to the game, as I feel they wanted it to be and I do think a bit too much of the game is locked behind multiplayer.

But yeah, that’s WarioWare Move It. It’s good and if you like WarioWare, you’re getting what you wanted out of it. It’s not one of my top games in the series and feels a bit too lacking on the side content front, but on the whole, I had a good time and it gets a surprising amount out of a controller that I have an openly low opinion on.

#WarioWare #WarioWare Move It

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be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie · 1 year

Note

I've been dubbed! To honor this momentous occasion I, Boredom Anon, will let you in on a little something: I am in fact going to go through with writing the memory loss au, rest assured. Sorry I left you with only that small piece to chew on, but I needed a trusted source to give me an opinion on the idea before I got too in over my head.

To answer a few of your questions in your response:

His body is still there, yep, and I plan on this being one of the plot points because technically Spider is still in his body---the avatar up and walking is just a glitchy memory-holder which I thought would lead to an interesting question: where is the line between oneself? Is he even still Spider, in this case? This is something that Neteyam especially will be conflicted by.

The exact details of how he got hurt are something I've been playing with. For now I think having him take the bullet for Neteyam might be fun to play with, but who's to say. I'm willing to hear any suggestions you may have on the matter!

The Sullies are in Awa'atlu when Spider is first on the mend and getting used to his avatar body. The scene I gave you was when they're finally in the clear to come and see him at High Camp.

I didn't add in all of their reactions because I didn't want to get carried away, but you are very close to how I imagined I'd write Jake and Tuk's reactions lol. I plan on putting the elements you mentioned with Neytiri in there for sure though and you're correct Spider is going entirely off of what feels right so that'll be fun.

Another thing to note: one of the main points I have written down right now is that this avatar body is so fresh that everything is new and feels almost overwhelming in some cases. Pair that with his limited memory and you get some potent muscle-memory/instinct type shit going on, almost like how a newborn creature is just going off of what it feels. For example, the first thing he thinks when he wakes up in his avatar body is Neteyam, and this is quickly followed by a deep longing and it just starts to plague him because he doesn't know what it means but he knows he needs this "Neteyam" whoever he is (and he knows Neteyam is a person, he can feel it. It comes to him in broken images: a blurry face, a melodic laugh, "I see you, Spider.") Am I explaining this well? I feel like I'm making about zero sense lol but whatever you'll get what I mean eventually if you don't now.

Anyways, while I'm working on developing this fic I'll be sure to hop on the asks every now and then with updates if you'd like and when I publish it I'll of course send you the link if you want 👍. Your positive reaction has done wonders and since you aided in my final decision to write it I feel it's only fair.

BOREDOM ANON THIS IS THE MSOT EXCITING NEWS. WHEN I GOT THIS ASK I FREAKED, AND I ALMOST BUMPED IT TO THE TOP OF THE PILE. Instead I just went through the others a little quick and used it as incentive lol. I am thrilled to be a trusted source, I'd love to do whatever I can, feel free to dm me of course, or send me all the asks if you want to stay anonymous of course.

-Wow, that is very dark. There's a great opportunity for an examination of what makes one truly themselves. I think the Na'vi would be more understanding at first than the scientists, due in part to all energy being borrowed in their philosophy. They can visit the dead in memories when they are with Eywa, and that's almost like what Spider is. It just is a question as to if that makes him dead or not, kind of. I also wonder, does that mean they expect him to wake up, or will they try to transfer him into his Avatar body permanently once they think he's strong enough? Probably not questions for you to answer, spoilers lol.

-Hmm, well, the bullet is always good, because I've been saying (I don't remember if it was in dms or a public post) that I've yet to see a fic where Spider takes the bullet and I get to the see the direct fallout from that. I think the effect it would have on his and Neytiri's relationship would be fairly immediate. It would also drastically change the ship standoff, and I'm curious as to people's takes on that. He could also always just pass out from blood loss and then when Norm and Max arrive they notice the brain damage from the machine, and that is what makes them put him in a coma, because he isn't stable.

-Ooh, very interesting. I'm sHOCKED the Sully kids let that fucker out of their sight for a second. Kiri and Lo'ak attempt to sneak out with Payakan to go back to High Camp literally every night, Jake has to sleep basically on top them. He'd never suspect that NETEYAM is also a flight risk, the biggest of them all.

-Haha, no, I understand! Well, even if he can't remember much of before, he's never felt his mating bond before in a Na'vi body. The feelings are stronger and different, and he doesn't have the past knowledge to try to repress or ignore them. He just knows what he wants and what he needs.

OBVIOUSLY we'd love updates, but no pressure of course, and of course I want the link!! I am so so glad I helped with the decision, so many of you lately have said I helped inspire you to write and I cannot express how happy that makes me! Fanfiction is a fantastic creative outlet and a great tool and gateway into bigger literary work, so never feel nervous!

#this makes me so happy #miles spider socorro #spider socorro #neteyam sully #nocorro #jake sully #neytiri sully #tuktirey sully #lo'ak sully #norm spellman #max patel #avatar #avatar the way of water #james cameron avatar #we are mindmelding get in #melissa's asks #melissa on avatar (cameron)#boredom anon

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teyamsatan · 1 year

Text

The Archer | Chapter II: Out of the Woods

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Summary: A fight with Neteyam makes you run to the forest with the rest of the Sully kids, right into the arms of the enemy. You come face to face with a man you never thought you'd ever get to see.

Pairings: Neteyam x Avatar!Reader

Word Count: 10,2k words

Warnings/notes: smut(18+, minors DNI!), angst, mentions of death, disease, blood, violence, cursing, SPOILERS for ATWOW

A/N: I am writing this at 2am, so my apologies for any grammar errors, I am exhausteddd!! I don't know if you can tell, but I am actually really struggling writing any of the scenes (particularly action scenes) from the movie, and describing what is happening on the screen is the bane of my life. Also, sometimes I can't understand what the dialogue is and I can't find the script or english subtitles and it makes me unnecessarily upset. Also my inspo for the dad is Oscar Isaac cause wow what a man. Can he be my daddy too? Hahahaha ok i'm so tired i'm gonna go to sleep enjoyyy x

Remember when I hit the brakes too soon? Twenty stitches in a hospital room

When you started crying, baby, I did too, but when the sun came up, I was looking at you

Remember when we couldn't take the heat? You walked out, you said "I'm setting you free"

But the monsters turned out to be just trees, when the sun came up you were looking at me

You watched Neteyam leave the comfort of your shared tent and you instantly knew he felt horrible about what he said. You knew he didn’t mean it, but in this moment, you didn’t care. He had to have meant it to a certain degree for it to come out so easily out of his mouth.

As you were preparing to leave, unable to spend the night in this place, in this tent, where everything hurt, where every corner had photos and trinkets and memories that you couldn’t bear look at in this moment, you heard a squeaky voice you loved break through the unbearable silence. You were a mess, you knew, paint splattered all over your face, neck and torso, seeping into the woven fabric of your top, but you wouldn’t deny her - you couldn’t.

“Come in, Tuk-tuk.”

She gently opened the flap and walked in sheepishly, carrying your mother’s guitar that you gifted to her almost a year ago.

“I’m sorry about Neteyam.” She looked so sad you almost started crying again, this pure soul who felt and cared for everything around her, listened to everyone and always made you feel important, always made you feel heard.

You knelt and opened your arms in her direction, and you saw her place the guitar carefully on the ground and run into your open arms.

“Oh, my dear girl, you have nothing to be sorry about. That is between me and him, it has nothing to do with you, alright, baby?”

“But it does have to do with me, because he is wrong. You have a family, you have always had a family. We’re your family. Sullys stick together.”

The tears started as if completely independent from the rest of your body, and you couldn’t stop the cry that made its way out of your throat without your consent. This little girl you loved so much managed to undo so much of her brother’s mistakes in just a few words, and you felt so grateful to have her in your life, so grateful to have someone to call a sister.

“Baby, I was going to go wash this whole day off, would you like to come with me? We can take Neyn, we can bring the guitar, you can sing to me the song I showed you?”

“Yay, adventure time!”

You chuckled at this 9 year old who reminded you a lot of Lo’ak at her age, always up for new experiences, as long as it avoided the boredom of the mundane. You knew you were going to get in trouble with Jake and Neytiri for taking their youngest away at night, but right now you just needed to be away from here, and you couldn’t find it in your heart to turn away this precious soul who just made you less miserable in just a few minutes.

You sneaked out of your tent, feeling stupid for feeling like you had to sneak out in the first place, like you were an unruly teenager, not a full-grown adult who just got her heart broken by her mate. He should be sneaking out. As a matter of fact, he should be sneaking in, begging on his knees for your forgiveness, like he used to when he was young. I guess that’s just another thing that has changed in the year you have become mated. You signalled for Tuk to get on your ikran, who was dozed off next to the rest of your family’s, and you cursed yourself for waking her up after such a traumatic day.

“I’m sorry, sweet girl.” You said with a kiss on her snout, and she cooed affectionately at you. You made the tsaheylu and you couldn’t feel any fear, anxiety or frustration in her thoughts, which put your mind at ease a little, and, with a hand on the neural whip and the other wrapped tightly around Tuk’s chest, you took flight.

It was a short trip to the cave you and Neteyam come to all the time, the one that had a small subterranean lake that you would sometimes wash in. The water was absolutely freezing, never seeing the light of day, but it was peaceful and clean, and that sounded as good to you as heaven right now. You dove in without a second thought, the freezing water inundating all your senses, healing all the wounds that were scratching painfully at your heart.

Why would he say that?

I mean, you did attack him about saving his baby brother, who would have probably died if it wasn’t for him.

He should’t have to keep saving Lo’ak at his own expense.

He shouldn’t have to, but he does. Lo’ak wants to prove himself, and Neteyam is a protector by nature. It’s like asking water to not be wet.

I want to kill Lo’ak.

No, you don’t. Because you understand Lo’ak. You’re sad for Lo’ak, for always living in his brother’s shadow, for always getting the cold shoulder from his dad, who you also know is just being harsh because he has to be, because no one else can be.

What if he dies? What do I do then?

Your mind didn’t have a quippy answer to that - or any answer at all. You were left alone, with no answers and enough terror to fill this whole floating cave and overflow around it. You emerged from the water and got on your back, just floating aimlessly, trying to get your heart to stop pounding in your chest and the tears stop pricking at your eyes. What if he dies?

“Can I swim with you?”

Tuk’s question pulled you out of your frightened contemplation, and you realised you have probably been unnervingly quiet for too long.

“It’s really cold, Tuk-tuk, I don’t want you to get sick. How about I take you to a warmer lake tomorrow and we can swim together, would you like that?”

“YES!”

“Can I come, too?”

The deep voice stopped you in your tracks, and you almost drowned when your feet stopped paddling underwater to keep you upright.

“NETEYAM!” Regardless how upset Tuk was at her older brother’s words, Neteyam would always be her favourite. Her favourite sibling, her favourite family member. Some people in the village loved asking Jake and Neytiri whether Tuk was more a mother’s or a father’s girl, but in reality, Tuk was her brother’s girl.

“Hi, Tuk. What are you doing here? You want to give mother and father a heart attack?” The little girl’s face was nestled in Neteyam’s neck, hidden from sight behind his long braids that moved as she chuckled.

“I wanted to keep my sister company.”

“You need to go to sleep, parultsyìp. How about I take you back home and then I can keep her company?”

“Will you apologise?”

Neteyam shifted uncomfortably on his feet, and looked to the ground - he was embarrassed.

“Yes, I will apologise. Come, let’s go.” He let her down and patted her back affectionately to get her to go ahead before him.

“Please don’t leave? I’ll come as soon as I make sure she’s with my parents.” He looked at you pleadingly, begging you silently. A year ago you would have ran for the hills, took off to not be found by anyone, but just like so many other things, this has also changed. You weren’t a child anymore, careless and impulsive, controlled by your never-ending grief and anger; you had to be better. You were someone’s daughter now, someone’s mate, someone’s sister. You were a future Tsa’hik, you were one of the best warriors in the clan. People depended on you. Despite what Neteyam so cruelly told you, you did have a family. And he was part of it. So you would wait.

You nodded without looking at him, and you heard him sigh in relief. He placed something on the ground before he turned on his heels with Tuk in his arms, and you noticed with a sudden burst of pain felt all within you that it was a flower bouquet. That’s why he took so long…

You washed yourself properly now that you were alone, and when you got out, you noticed the guitar that Tuk forgot to pick up with her still resting on a wall of the cave. You sat next to it, back resting on the same wall, and picked it up, your mind immediately wandering to your mum. With everything going on around you, you have not been able to visit the Tree of Souls after your consciousness transfer. It’s been a year since you saw your mum as you lay dying and you regretted every day not going back to visit, to see if you could see her again, see if Eywa would be able to bring her back to you, at least in this way. The guitar was tiny in your hands now, but you could still play the chord if you were really careful. You started strumming a song, and let yourself sing to let out the hurt and fright.

Looking at it now, it all seemed so simple, we were lying on my couch, I remember

You took a Polaroid of us, and then discovered the rest of the world was black and white, but we were in screaming colour

Your bracelet hanging from my hand, the night we couldn’t quite forget, when we decided

To move the furniture so we could dance, baby, like we stood a chance, two paper airplanes flying

And I remember thinking, are we out of the woods yet? Are we in the clear yet?

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we in the clear yet?

“Well… we are definitely out of the woods.”

You saw Neteyam’s shadowy figure slowly walking towards you, deeper in the cave, the silhouette of his body and the braids swinging from of side to the other to only thing you can make out in the darkness. You glared in his direction and he winced, already regretting his words.

He sat down in front of you, with his legs crossed so your knees were touching. He reached a hand to your knee and caressed it gently.

“Thank you for waiting.”

You refused to look at him, instead opting for the dimly illuminated lake to your left, that twinkled every time a drop of water would fall from the ceiling. You traced the stalactites and their curious shapes, fascinated with they clung to the wall, when you felt Neteyam’s hand on your cheek, softly turning your face to face him.

“Atan, please, look at me. I can’t stand it when you refuse to look at me.”

Tears fell from your eyes like water from the roof of the cave, and eventually you looked at him, and saw his pained expression, and you knew how bad he felt. You could feel it in your soul, his misery, but it did very little to comfort you. It was easy to feel bad after the fact.

“Atan… I am so sorry. I could never express into words how sorry I am, I will pay my whole life for what I said, what I spat at you in a moment of stupid anger. I just want you to know that it isn’t true. What I said, it isn’t true. You’ve always had a family. You’ve always had us, and Norm and Max. You’ve always had me. I have been your family my whole life, and I am so, so sorry. There’s no excuse for what I said.”

“I forgive you.” You placed your hand on his chest when you noticed him trying to get close to you. ‘I’m not finished.”

“I forgive you. But I need some time.”

“What do you mean you need some time?”

“I mean, I have to figure out how I will do this. How I could possibly do this. How I can watch the man I promised to spend the rest of my life with kill himself before the rest of my life can ever come, and learn to ever be ok with it.

You were right. I never had a family. I had a mum who didn’t want to live past my tenth birthday, friends I cared for, but that lived in a completely different world to mine, people that tried to be there for me but I pushed them away, a dead dad and you. A guy I loved my whole life who left me without saying goodbye. I’ve never had a family.

But I have one now. And you’re right. You’re right, it isn’t a choice. If I had to choose between my life any of yours, I would give mine up in an instant. And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make sure you are safe. So I do get it. But that doesn’t mean that I can watch you do it.

I know how hard this is on you… how much this enormous unspoken pressure weighs on you. Being Olo’eyktan, being the oldest son, the big brother, the protector. I know you won’t say it, and you won’t complain, but I know. You have nightmares, and you cry in your sleep. You cry for your dad, and for Lo’ak… for Tuk… for me. I hoped that you would talk to me about it, and I’ll be here to listen when you feel ready. I’m sorry you feel like you have to go through this alone.

But I don’t know if I can’t stand and watch you kill yourself. Because it will kill me too. So until I figure it out, I need some time.”

Neteyam was shedding silent tears that refused to stay hidden, and he felt his heart break at all your words, each one harder to hear than the last. Time? He didn’t have time. Time was for a different period of your lives, before the humans came, when you were young and wild and free to run through the forest whenever you pleased. Time was for when you made him sit through an entire season of a show he couldn’t understand half the words to, but he was just happy to sit in silence next to you, hearing your laughter bless his ears, his mind, his soul. Time was for when he took his siblings through the forest to forage for rocks and beads because Kiri wanted to make them all something special to wear for his second birth. There was no more time, no more future, no more past. Just the now, waiting to see what the humans have planned next, what hell they’ll rain on this planet this time, and who will suffer as a consequence.

“Atan…”

“I don’t want to put you out, so I will go sleep with the rest of the Avatars for a while. I have work to do in the lab anyway, so it’ll probably work better this way anyway.”

Neteyam saw you get up from where you sat, deep coldness settling where your knees weren’t touching him anymore and dispersing all throughout his body. He saw your back turn and you made your way out of the cave, stopping to pick up the flowers that he spent an hour collecting for you. You brought them closer to your face and smelled them, smiling sadly.

“Thank you for the flowers. It’s good to know at least some things haven’t changed. I love you, Neteyam. I’m sorry.”

Neteyam couldn’t find it in him to get up from the floor, and he felt the hopelessness envelop him like a blanket that he was suffocating under. What was he supposed to do? What did this mean? Is this a human thing? Neteyam remembers when you were much younger and you had to explain to him the concept of a “break”, after making him sit through a whole Friends marathon. Is this what this was? You were asking him for a break? Were you breaking up with him? Today just feels like a never-ending nightmare, and he was hoping that you would wake him up, like you always did, comforting him and singing him back to sleep. He didn’t have it in him to go back to the camp, so he lay on the cold ground of the cave, and let himself fall into a restless slumber - even if real nightmares did invade his subconsciousness, how much worse could they get?

You spent the next few days mostly in the lab, trying to take care of everyone who was affected in the fateful mission that left more than physical scars behind. It was a full-time job, as there were a lot of victims that required surgical intervention, which you were more than happy to do yourself. You’d like to think that it was because it would bring you peace - helping others - but you knew deep down you were also happy to be able to avoid Neteyam. You felt bad for what you said, bad for distancing yourself from someone you loved more than life itself, but you were still hurt and angry, still terrified and paralysed at the thought of losing him. You don’t know what this distance would achieve, but you were hoping for some clarity and perspective.

Norm and Max came in the little lab you turned into an intervention room as you were finishing checking in on the people you operated on a couple days ok, making sure their vitals were normal.

“OK - spill. What happened?” You heard Norm speak over the machines beeping in the room.

“What do you mean?” You removed your gloves and quietly made your way out of the lab.

“You’re never here this much anymore. I’m sure there are better things to be doing, and you know very well me and Max, or hell, Claire and Tim can take care of people post-operatively. We all know how to stitch wounds, Ace.”

“Not as well as me.”

“True, but definitely better than we would be at scouting and hunting, which is what you should be doing. So something happened. Had a fight with Neteyam?”

“Of sorts.”

You reached the dry labs and sat on one of the chairs that you barely fit in anymore; your elbow resting on your thighs, you put your head in your hands and sighed deeply.

“You’re gonna remove all the oxygen in the room if you sigh that hard.”

“We fought about the mission a few days ago. Lo’ak disobeyed Jake and got himself in danger - as usual -, and Neteyam got hit by the explosion as a result. I yelled at him about it, he yelled at me, it got ugly. I told him I need space. So I’m taking space.”

“So that’s why you’re sleeping in our tent. I knew it wasn’t just so you could check on people easier. Liar.”

“It’s not a complete lie, but yeah.”

“So what were you yelling to each other about?”

“So I said -“

Loud commotion happened around you as the door to the outside opened and in came Lo’ak, Kiri and Spider.

“Yeah, haha, real hysterical, you guys. You know what really sucks, though? That you can breathe the air here for hours, and I can only breath your air for like ten seconds.”

“Yeah, monkey boy, that really sucks. For you.”

Spider and Kiri have always been close, but recently, you felt a shift in their dynamic. It was a lot more flirtatious than friendly, and you couldn’t help wonder if there is something going on beneath the surface. Their interactions reminded you a lot of you and Neteyam’s before he left, just intimate enough they didn’t feel platonic anymore. Having been in Spider’s shoes, if there was, you felt bad for him. It was a slow poison, loving someone you know you could never have - whose body is literally incompatible to your own. You have always felt bad that you got an Avatar and Spider didn’t. In reality, you felt like he deserved it more. He has always been so connected to the Na’vi, so inseparable from the Sullys, so desperate for a family and a sense of belonging. Nobody knew this, but you were working hard to try to see if it was possible to build him one too. It would take time, but with the new technology and supplies the humans brought with them, maybe it wasn’t a pipe dream anymore.

Kiri finally acknowledged your presence.

“Hey, everyone!”

“Hey, kids!” Max chipped in enthusiastically. He loved when the Sullys came to visit.

“Hey, what’s up, Max?”

You didn’t look at Lo’ak, although he came really close to you and sat on a chair in front of yours. He moved on the chair until he was face to face with you, and put both of his hands on either side of you on the arm rests to force you to face him.

“Angel, are you going to be upset with me forever?”

You scowled at him and he smiled, and you melted a little. You could never stay mad at Lo’ak.

“You are a public menace, do you understand this?” it was his turn to scowl now, and he turned his gaze away from you - he seemed upset. You took his face in both your hands and brought his gaze back to yours.

“Lo’ak, I need you to be more careful. Please. I can’t lose you. And I can’t lose Neteyam, who will die one day trying to protect you. I know it’s hard, I know there’s so much you want to do and so much you want to prove, but please. Try?” You were looking at him as seriously and warmly as you could, pleading him to hear you, pleading that he would listen. He looked at you intently for a long time, and eventually, he nodded softly, looking remorseful. You moved his head downward a little so you had better access to his forehead and you gave him a quick peck, and noticed the slight purplish tint of his cheeks. You could never stay mad at Lo’ak.

“We’re going to go take a walk in the woods, come with us, please? I know you’re mad at Neteyam, but you can’t stay here forever. Even Norm and Max go out more than you.”

“Lo’ak, you shouldn’t be walking through the woods, you know this.”

“We’re not going to go far. We’re even taking Tuk, you know we would never put her in any danger.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “She blackmailed you to come, didn’t she?”

You saw Lo’ak rolls his eyes and huff in annoyance. “…yes.”

“Fine, I’m literally only coming to make sure Tuk is safe.”

“I’ll take it. Let’s go, gang!!”

You had to admit it felt really good to be out, to just run on the huge vines that connected the Hallelujah mountains to the ground and to each other. It felt like a blessing to be able to still enjoy these views, these moments with your siblings, even amidst the chaos that was erupting everywhere around you. You went like this for ages, and even though you knew you should have gone back, knew Lo’ak was again pushing his luck and the safety of everyone here, you couldn’t find it in you to stop him. You wanted this, you craved the warmth and safety the forest gave you, your forever home, your forever first love. Even the thought of returning back to camp in a couple hours made you sad. So you decided to focus on the now, and just enjoy the time you’ve got.

It was close to eclipse when you decided to make your way back. The kids were not allowed past curfew, and you didn’t want to risk it, especially with Tuk around. You were disappointed, but not surprised when Lo’ak stopped in his tracks and moved away from your path to inspect something he found on the ground.

“What is it?” Kiri said, in an exasperated tone, and you found yourself mirroring her sentiments.

You saw Lo’ak and Spider hovering over a patch on the ground and you decided to go investigate.

“We’re always supposed to be home by eclipse.” You heard Tuk join in.

Your mouth dropped at the sight in front of you. Shoe prints, made by boots that couldn’t be worn by any human. You recognised the pattern of the sole, as you have seen it before among clothes worn by the RDA soldiers. Military combat boots. Your heart was thumping in your chest at the only possible explanation. You started looking around you, and you felt the all-too-familiar dread building in your stomach, greeting you like an old friend. You barely registered the words that Spider and Lo’ak were exchanging.

“It’s way too big for a human.”

“Avatars?”

“Maybe, but for sure not ours.”

You saw Lo’ak move towards where the footprints were headed, and you tried to will your legs to move, to stop them, tried to will yourself to speak, but you couldn’t find the words, just dread. Just pure fear at every possible scenario that could take place, your mind computing all your worst nightmares and displaying them to you like on an outdoor cinema screen. Eventually, you started moving your legs and made your way in front of Lo’ak, positioning your body, now just as strong and tall as his, in front of him.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m tracking.”

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” You were trying so hard to keep your voice down, but it was hard to do when you felt rage replacing the anxiety and spilling over all around you.

“Angel, we have to see who it is. Whoever it is will never find us, this is our territory. We have to bring back the intel, and what are we going to say when dad asks us what did we see? We need to find out more.”

“Lo’ak, we are not prepared for this. I don’t have my gun, or a radio, or my bow. I have a knife. I’m not putting Kiri and Tuk in danger. We can go back and we can track tomorrow and figure it out. We know they’re Avatars. What you don’t know is that they’re military.”

You saw his face drop. “Yeah, that’s right. Those boots? They were worn by the RDA soldiers that murdered so many of our people. They’re larger now, but the imprint on them is the same. They fucking brought Avatar soldiers here this time. This is fucking serious. We have to go.”

He thought about it for a while. You hoped that he would listen, you hoped that he would abide by what you talked about only a few hours ago.

“We will be careful. We will keep our distance. Let’s just see what they’re doing, at least.”

You growled at him loudly, but said nothing, and the shock overtook your body when you realised that you were following him. You tried to tell your body to move, to take Kiri and Tuk and leave, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t leave him or Spider, couldn’t bear the thought of them getting hurt and you not being there to help. Fuck, you owed Neteyam an apology.

You followed the tracks for a while, until you found them, and you kept your distance in the bushes and observed quietly. You could see six people in the clearing where 19 years ago, Jake and Neytiri defeated Quaritch, Spider’s dad. It was a forbidden place, cursed by dark, ominous energy that will plague this land for many years to come. The people were clearly Avatars, dressed in camo outfits, carrying so much weaponry it was making your knees shake. Every cell in your body was begging you to move, begging you to run, but you couldn’t, not until Lo’ak the rest of them were safely behind you. So you waited, trying to gather as much information as you could. The Avatars were searching the hub for any sign of recent life, and they took particular interest in exo-suit that you know belonged to Quaritch. In it, there were 2 arrows that you recognised as Neytiri’s, the emerald green feathers a dead giveaway. You never knew exactly how Spider’s dad died, and neither did he, so you wondered what feelings were plaguing him watching this unfold.

“We are never supposed to be here.” Kiri says, in a forceful tone. “Dad is going to ground you…”

“Shh, Kiri.” Lo’ak said exasperatedly, talking over his sister. “…for life.”

“Bro, we have got to check this out.”

You put your arm in front of the two boys. “Absolutely not. This is as far as we go. Call this in, now. I don’t have my radio.”

“No, bro, we’re gonna get in trouble.” You gave Spider a death stare, at his seemingly unending recklessness.

“Call it in, now. I’m not going to repeat myself again.”

“You sound like dad.”

Neteyam’s mood has been in a rapid decline over the last few days. He hasn’t seen you since that night, clear to him you were doing anything in your power to avoid him. Instead of thinking of the potential demise of your relationship and how that put his fucking heart through the meat grinder, he instead decided to bury himself in work and training, and try to spend some time with his parents that he very rarely seemed to talk to anymore outside of war-talk. His childhood was long gone, he realises - where he was just a kid, surrounded by so much love it was almost suffocating, full of laughter and joy, full of his dad’s Earth stories and his mum’s impressions, full of hope and light. His parents were now soldiers, generals, commanders, and he was just a subordinate, a corporal trying to help out in the best way he knew how. There were definitely perks to being an adult, and Neteyam could list just about all of them staring in between your legs, but there were times, such as now, that he wishes his parents would be his parents again, and he could just be a little kid again, spoiled, cherished and unencumbered by life’s tragedies.

The three of them were high in the Hallelujah mountains, returning from a full day of scouting and tracking, when Lo’ak’s voice through the radio interrupted his train of thought.

“Devil Dog, Devil Dog, this is Eagle Eye, over.”

“Eagle Eye, send your traffic.”

“I got eyes on some guys. They look like Avatars, but they’re in full camo and carrying ARs. There’s six of them, over.”

“What’s your post?”

“Um... We’re at the old shack.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me, Spider, Kiri…Quickscope…and Tuk.”

Neteyam’s knees felt like they were buckling underneath him. He was dizzy, and he felt Seze’s flight becoming unsteady as his mind was collapsing into a puddle of mush. Lo’ak… Spider… Kiri… Tuk… and you. His whole world. He could lose everything in a second. What the fuck were all of you doing in the forest? Why the fuck were all of you in the one place that was strictly forbidden? If it was Lo’ak and Spider he could maybe understand the stupidity, but you? The thought that you went along with this, with Tuk next to you boiled his blood - it was easier to be angry than to admit how immeasurably scared he actually was.

“Son, you listen to me very carefully. Pull back right now, do not make a sound, and get the hell out of there. Move. Copy?”

“Yes, sir, moving out.”

Neteyam’s entire body was lit up with pure adrenaline, coursing through his veins like ice water, sharpening his senses. He had to save you. All of you. He had to do something.

“Dad. I know a quick way.” He didn’t stop to see if his parents were following, but he heard his mother letting out a war cry behind him, so he assumed they were. He had to save you. He couldn’t lose you again.

“You’re gonna be in so much trouble.” You heard Kiri whispering to her brother.

“Kiri, stop. This is not the time.” You heard yourself say. You were gonna kill Lo’ak yourself, but right now, you just had to focus on getting out of here. Getting them out of here.

You saw Tuk run ahead and you wanted to tell her to slow down, but she spoke before you. “It’s almost eclipse, come on!!”

Out from the bushes came Avatars, so many of them they outnumbered you at least 2 to 1. A woman grabbed Tuk, holding her tightly and you hissed aggressively and pulled out your knife from its sheath, but you knew immediately it would do very little against so many military people carrying fucking machine guns that were pointed at your face, and worse, at the faces of the people you loved.

You heard the Avatars screaming at you, telling you all to put down your weapons, and you did, knowing there was no other choice. This wasn’t a battle you could win, this wasn’t even a battle you could start. You saw Lo’ak throw his bow on the ground, but Spider was unrelenting.

“Drop it. Drop it.” Lo’ak warned Spider in Na’vi, and you thanked your lucky star that he was being at least a tiny bit reasonable.

You were pulled forcefully by someone tugging you by your hair and pinning your arms together, holding them tightly, mirroring what was happening to your siblings around you. Tuk was crying, and your heart tugged at the sound, desperate to help her, a deep maternal instinct rising within you, and you felt rage and adrenaline fill your body.

A few more Avatars made their way to the group. One of them looked a little older, and by the way all the others shifted towards him subconsciously, you reckoned he was the leader. Two men were following him closely, and a profound, unsettling feeling overcame you. They looked…familiar. The first one was bald. The second one had wavy hair and looked slightly different than all the others. He looked…dignified. Like he didn’t quite belong. Like his clothes were unbecoming on his body. You somehow felt you knew this man, and when you looked next to him at the first guy and his tattoo, at the girl holding Kiri… when you looked closely at all of them, your body jerked violently and your mouth fell agape.

It couldn’t be… no…

Quaritch. Weinfleet. Pike.

…Your dad…

You didn’t understand what you were feeling at the moment, a mix that you have never experienced before, but at the forefront was gaping confusion and horror, shock and fear, and deep within you, maybe even a little bit of excitement. Could that actually be your dad? How is that possible? You buried his bones, you saw Weinfleet’s skeleton in the forest, you just saw Quaritch’s at the Shack. How could this be?

You saw Weinfleet stalk towards you and he took a hold of your hand and forcefully brought it up. “Colonel, check it out. Four fingers. We’ve got a half-breed.”

They thought you were Na’vi. Good. They realised you were born with Avatar blood, so you were most likely Jake’s. That made you valuable to them. Bad. The man behind you was pulling on your queue to lift your chin up so Quaritch can look at you properly. They were pulling on your arm and you felt pain all over, that was overshadowed by so many other emotions flooding your being. He inspected you shortly, and then moved on to Kiri and Lo’ak.

“Show me your fingers.” Lo’ak brought both his hands up and flipped him off. You would laugh if your body could still produce any ounce of serotonin.

You saw Quaritch smile crudely, eyeing Lo’ak up and down. “You’re his, aren’t you?” He continued smiling as Lo’ak hissed at him and took him by his hair, pulling him towards his eye level.

“Where is he?”

“Sorry, I don’t speak English…with assholes.”

“Where is your father?” His accent was thick, and he butchered the words and pronunciation, but there was no mistaking what he wanted. Jake. So this is what it was all about. Even after 19 years, the RDA was willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in order to eliminate the Olo’eyktan. It was a good investment, you thought, considering there was only so much the humans can do with Jake in the picture. You wondered what they were willing to do to get to him. Would they kill you off, one by one? Would your dad kill you to get to Jake?

Lo’ak said nothing, only hissing in pain when the man kept tugging at his queue aggressively. You heard wails all around you coming from Kiri and Tuk, but you were focused on only one thing. Figuring out an escape route. You knew Neytiri and Jake were on their way, since Lo’ak alerted them to your location. It was only a matter of time before they arrived. Eclipse was also only about 10 more minutes away, so you would have the cover of darkness soon, which was an advantage to you, but not to them. Lucky for you, they tied your hands in front of you, which means you could still use them. You probed the strength of the hand ties, and realised quickly you weren’t getting out of them without a knife. The man holding you was keeping you close to his body. You recoiled in disgust, but tried to shimmy your body into him to feel for any possible things you could use. He was wearing an army vest. You felt grenades and ammo poking you in the back. You moved subtly a bit more, making it seem like the position was just uncomfortable, and felt a military knife holder in your lower back. Bingo.

Quaritch took out a knife, and threatened Lo’ak with it, but soon moved along the line to Kiri. There was screaming coming from all the boys, but Spider’s voice broke through and Quaritch turned around to face him. It must be a weird sight to see, a human amongst the Na’vi, clearly young enough to have been raised here. You wondered if Spider connected the dots, if he figured out who the man standing if front of him was. You gave silent thanks to your mum and the scientists for the Avatar again.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Spider… Socorro.”

Quaritch’s face changed, the sly smirk faltered and his expression was shocked, when it dawned on him the kid standing in front of him was his son.

Neteyam and his parents landed as eclipse set in, enveloping the nature in bioluminescent glow. It would be beautiful if he wasn’t on the edge of losing his goddamn mind. He grabbed his bow and patted Seze before he made his way towards the shack. His dad turned around and put a hand in front of him. Neteyam’s nose flared at the words he knew were coming.

“No, no. You stay with the ikran.”

“No.”

“Neteyam…” his mother was trying to defuse the situation the best way she knew how.

“I’m not going to say it again.”

“You are not leaving me behind. I am older than mum was when the Sky People attacked the first time. My mate is out there. My brothers and sisters. I am coming.”

Neteyam saw his dad looking at him intently, thinking about it for a while. Eventually, he relents and nods curtly.

“You stay behind, do you read me, boy? Your mother and I will go first, so they think it’s just two of us. You stand and attack from behind when the opportunity arises.”

Neteyam agreed, although still disappointed. It was better than nothing.

“Let’s go.”

After splitting from his parents, Neteyam made his way quietly through the forest to a high point by which he could spot you and his siblings. He gasped silently and he could feel his heart in his throat, making him pant in shallow breaths, that were leaving him dizzy and disoriented. So many Avatars, all in military clothing, all carrying heavy guns, all holding at knifepoint the people he loved most in the world. He saw you and his breath stopped altogether, wet hair and a concerned, but focused expression on your face. Your eyes were scanning all of them, scanning the forest, it’s almost like you could tell they were here, that he was here.

From far away, he heard his mum’s signature distress signal echoing through the forest. It was inconspicuous enough that to the undiscerning ears it probably sounded like a bird or a forest animal, but Neteyam saw all of your ears perk and your heads snapping in the direction it came from. Neteyam knew you were all trained for this, trained for emergency situations, and he felt a tug of gratitude for his father’s military ways that will most likely save their lives tonight.

The unmistakable sound of Neytiri’s call brought relief that washed over you like the raindrops falling from the sky. You knew then the kids will be alright. You looked at Lo’ak and you nodded almost imperceptibly in the direction of the guy at your 12 o’clock who was facing you both and had a smoke bomb clearly displayed on his vest. He looked at it and nodded back, and you knew he understood. You got this.

With a loud thud that declared the beginning of the rescue mission, the man holding both Kiri and Spider was knocked to the ground, a green arrow sticking out of his forehead. The man holding you pushed you aside to get his gun, and without a second thought, you removed the knife from his holder and slit his throat. The blood went all over you, on your face and torso, but you didn’t care.

“LO’AK!” You screamed, and the boy released the pin from the smoke bomb, enveloping the whole area in green smoke.

You stabbed another man in the neck at the same time Lo’ak and Tuk bit the people holding them, and ran for the woods. Good.

You managed to run as well, trying to dodge the barrage of gunshots being released all around you, but you felt someone harshly pulling you backwards by your queue. You cried out, as pain dispersed from your spine all around you body, but the pull stopped when the woman who grabbed you got an arrow on the side of her head that came out the other side. The shot came from a different angle, and you knew that was Neteyam. You ran as soon as you were released, making sure to take the machine gun she was carrying in her hand before you sprinted to a tree that could provide cover.

You took a few deep breaths to calm yourself, and poked your head out so you could shoot whoever was still alive. You realised from the angle you were at, you had a perfect shot…that would kill your dad. Was this man even your dad? Would sparing his life for your own twisted desperation for answers and closure cost your new family theirs? Your finger went to the trigger, putting slight pressure on it. Just a little more pressure, and it would be over. Tears welled in your eyes and with a silent curse and gasped breaths, you lowered your gun and got back undercover.

“Is that you, Mrs. Sully? I recognise your calling card.”

“Why don’t you come on out, Mrs. Sully? You and I, we’ve got some…unfinished business.”

You saw the kids running in the distance, and you felt so much safer, so much gratitude in knowing they were going to be okay. That’s all that mattered in this moment, that Tuk, and Kiri, and Lo’ak and Spider make it back home in one piece.

“DEMON! I will kill you as many times as I have to.” Neytiri’s voice sent shivers down your spine, so much hatred, so much intensity behind it.

“Guess you and the corporal got pretty busy, haven’t you? Got yourself a whole litter of half-breeds.”

You saw the reflection of the gun in the corner of your eye before you had a chance to process it, and you heard a man scream “Na’vi!”, followed by the unmistakable sound of shots being fired where you stood. You saw the bullets like in slow motion, and you knew then you were done for. You were just happy everyone else was going to make it. You were happy Neteyam was going to make it. You closed your eyes in anticipation of the pain, but the pain you expected never came. Instead, you were pushed to the ground and another type of pain, the pain the came with scratches all over your body and the wind getting knocked out you, brought you back to reality and you registered Neteyam’s unmistakable pheromones flooding your entire being.

“MOVE! GO, GO, GO!” He helped you to your feet and you both ran as fast as your feet could possibly carry you. You made it to a tree where you found Jake, and his presence calmed your thoughts and focused them - that was the effect he had on people, this great man and leader that you knew you would follow anywhere without question.

He touched you arm and spoke to both of you.

“Are you okay?” You and Neteyam nodded quickly.

“You ready? You ready?!” You saw him get out of cover and shoot, and you both sprinted for the hills, manoeuvring your way through thick shrubbery and tree roots, knowing that you wouldn’t have been able to do this even a few months ago, this level of athleticism and acrobatics that came naturally only to true Na’vi.

You heard a big explosion behind you and you saw part of a big web of roots get destroyed as a result, and Spider falling a few meters beneath it. You and Neteyam were preparing to run back, but Jake stopped you, placing a firm hand in front of your bodies. You saw Neytiri picking Kiri up forcefully and running with her towards your direction, as the girl was looking back to where Spider was.

Lo’ak and Tuk made it to your location as well, and you saw Jake kneel next to Tuk and hold her tightly in his arms as she cried, the weight of all you have all survived settling in all your bones. You hugged Neytiri like you never have before as you both cried, letting it all out, all the relief and fear and shock and happiness that you all made it out alive.

“THANK YOU, GREAT MOTHER! THANK YOU!”

Lo’ak’s voice echoed through the forest. “Where’s Spider?”

You looked at your sister, whose eyes looked like endless pools of sadness. “They took him! They took him!”

There were no words spoken as you all made your way back to camp. There were no words for what just happened. The adrenaline slowly depleted its resources in Neteyam’s body, leaving him in shambles, scrambling to figure out where to go from here. What were the next steps? Your back was flush against his chest, and the feeling of your skin on his, of your warmth emanating from your body, of your hand wrapped around his arm was the only thing that kept him from breaking down into a million pieces. You were here, his siblings were here. His thoughts flashed to Spider, and he knew he couldn’t think about it too much without tears welling in his eyes. He wasn’t close to Spider, definitely not nearly as close as the rest of his siblings, but he was family. Seze landed softly on the ground by the entrance to the camp. It was late, so most people were out for the night. You didn’t let go of him, not for one second, and he was so happy to see you again, so happy to feel you again, so sad it had to be under these circumstances. His family slowly made their way to the tent, but Neteyam felt you pull him back, urging him to let them go ahead without you.

He saw you properly for the first time since the whole ordeal. You had mud all over you, but that was nothing compared to the blood covering your entire face and chest. Tears were falling down your cheeks and neck, and his hands immediately found your face, just as his lips found yours. It was soft in the beginning, tentative, like a flower blooming in the morning. But as you came to terms with everything that transpired, everything you went through, everything you could have lost, it shifted, it became desperate and needy, full of breathy moans and wandering hands. He almost lost you.. again.

“Let’s go, please. I can’t be here.” Without any words, you got on Neyn and flew to your secret place. Neteyam’s hand was settled on your heart, that was thumping loudly, mirroring his own. You arrived quickly, the cave only a short distance away.

You ran, without looking at Neteyam and dove straight into the lake, not knowing for sure whether you wanted to reemerge, craving the numbness that came with drowning, craving it like the air that your was body was begging for. You felt the ripples in the water as Neteyam joined you, and when he touched you, your whole body lit ablaze, and the craving changed, as it always did when he was around. You missed him, so so much, and your fight and your need for space felt so silly now, so unnecessary in light of everything that you stood to lose at any moment. Any moment not spent in his presence, in his arms was wasted time, time you didn’t have.

You came up for air, panting from your need for him settled deep within you, so that he could fill the gaping hole that just opened in your soul. He looked at your intensely, and you knew he felt the same, so you kissed him, pouring all your desires into it, feeling him do same to you.

“I need you so badly, Atan. I have missed you so much.”

“Then take me, Neteyam. I’m yours.”

You exited the water and lead him to the mossy grass outside of the cave, where the nature was shining brightly and the wind warmed your skin. You pushed him onto the ground, and straddled him, looking deep in his eyes as you took off your beaded top and unhooked his cummerbund from around his abdomen. He rose from where he was laying on the ground and started planting kisses down your neck and collarbone, making his way down. You moaned at the feeling, and threw your head back, giving him access to you, begging silently for him to never stop. HIs mouth found one of your breasts that he kissed, softly in the beginning before his tongue flickered over your nipple. You started grinding on him, cursing yourself for not removing both your loincloths before. His mouth moved to your other breast, whilst his hands went on to undo your loincloth, that he removed from you and threw to the side. He stopped to undo his own, and you thanked the great mother for whatever unspoken connection you two have always shared.

“I need to feel you, my love. All of you.” His hand went to his queue that he brought forth, and you were so grateful at the sight, aching for the union that will always bind you together, for life.

You gasped loudly at the bond, overwhelmed with the outpouring of emotions emanating from Neteyam. So much pain, and fear and sadness, and so much love, and relief and gratitude all inundating your mind and soul, all making you breathless and dizzy. You both looked in each other’s eyes, both overcome with each other’s minds, both desperately in need of each other’s bodies.

One of his hands resumed his slow torture on your breast while the other wrapped around your throat, until the asphyxiation lead to euphoria you felt deep between your legs, slick dripping all over Neteyam’s hard-on that you were grinding against. His hands let go and the rush of oxygen to your brain made you moan in pleasure, and increase the speed at which you were getting yourself off on his cock. His mouth was all over you, leaving marks that you knew would be seen by everyone in the village tomorrow, but you couldn’t care less. The whole world could burn around you at this point and you wouldn’t care, because there was nothing else. Nothing outside of this, of him, of this feeling.

His hands went to your ass, pushing you deeper on him, urging you to go faster, helping you to your release.

“Fuck, I love it when you fuck yourself on my cock.”

You moaned loudly at his words, feeling your orgasm building up in your core. “That’s right. Come for me, baby girl.”

You threw your head back and rode out your orgasm with his hands on your ass still moving your now puffy and sensitive clit roughly on him.

“You are so beautiful. So fucking beautiful.”

Dazed, you felt yourself being picked up and placed on the ground, your back loving the feel of the wet grass touching your skin. His face was inches from yours, and he lowered it to kiss you, and it was so unlike everything else around you, so tender and soft, so needy and gentle.

“I love you so much. I am so happy you are here.” You cried out and brought him back onto you, kissing him like your life depended on it, which to be honest, you think it did. You felt his dick twitching against your inner thigh and moaned, desperate to feel him deep in your, desperate to be filled.

“Fuck, please.”

He smiles into the kiss, and reached down to line his cock to your folds, teasing your entrance mercilessly.

“Neteyam…” you mewled, not in the mood to be teased, not tonight.

He didn’t need to be told twice, as he pushed in slowly, letting you adjust to his girth, that always took you by surprise, that always stretched you out deliciously. He moaned as he filled you fully, and stopped to enjoy the way you squeezed him, the way you took him in like you wouldn’t ever let him go, your pussy the only prison he wouldn’t mind being held prisoner in forever.

“Fuck, Atan. You’re taking me so well, baby. Always so well, I could get lost in this pussy.”

You were so wet your slick was dripping all over him and down his balls, making it so easy for him to move in an out of you, at a slow, agonising pace. Your hands made their way to his back, hard and muscular, and you dug your nails in it roughly, scratching him as he increased his pace, fucking into you roughly and ruthlessly, making of you a whimpering mess. Your legs wrapped around him to grant him better access, to bring him in deeper, always deeper, until he was hitting a spot you could feel in your whole body, inundating your every cell, your every sense.

“I can feel you squeezing my dick, Atan. I want to hear you coming on my cock, I want to feel you taking my cum like a good girl.”

Your orgasm hit you like a lightning strike, overcharging your every nerve ending until you were so drained you could only see white, and you felt Neteyam’s load fill you to the brim, overflowing around you. Blissfully spent, his head fell on the crook of your neck, and you stood like that, listening to each other’s heartbeats and shallow breaths.

You laughed quietly thinking this was probably the most tame sex of your life, and how even when you were trying to be tempered and soft, you ended up like this, moaning and mewling like your life depended on it. This is what he did to you, what he’ll always be able to coax out of you.

“It’s good to hear you laugh again. So I take it you forgive me?” He rolled from on top of you, and pulled you on from the ground so you can be face to face, as he intently listened to every sound that came out of your mouth. Your queues were still attached, so you could feel the anxiety building in his system. You hoped your lack thereof would put his mind to ease a little.

“Mm, I don’t know if I forgive you, but I have realised something. Actually, I realised two things. First, today, walking through the forest with the kids, I realised that you were right. There’s no other choice, but to follow them to the ends of the world and hope you can at least help them not fall off the edge. And if you have to fall instead, that’s fine as long as they are safe. So I think I owe you an apology.

Secondly, I realised I can’t change who you are, and I don’t want to. I love you. I love how kind and patient and compassionate you are. I love that you love your family, your baby brother so much that his safety comes first in your mind. You love fully, and give everything to the people you love, and that is what makes you a great brother and a great son…a great mate. It’s what will make you the best Olo’eyktan this clan has ever seen… it’s what will make you the best dad. So I can’t change that about you.

But what I can do is make sure I will always be around. I’ll always be next to you, and behind you and in front of you, and I’ll always have your back. So if anything like that ever happens again, I will protect you. And if I can’t protect you, I will heal you. I will stitch your wounds, and mend your broken bones, because putting pieces back together is what I do best, anyway. I won’t have to be scared anymore, cause I’ll just always be there for you. Deal?”

“Deal.” He said as he kissed you tenderly, and you felt the salty taste of his tears on your lips.

You made your way back a couple of hours later, and were shocked to discover the Sullys were still awake. You silently stepped towards the tent where Lo’ak, Kiri and Tuk were hiding, listening in to their parents’ shouted conversation.Kiri motioned for you to come and brought her hand to her lips, urging you to be quiet.

“This thing, this Quaritch, whatever he is, is going to walk right into here, right under Eywa’s nose.”

“I cannot, you cannot ask this. I cannot leave my people. I will not.”

“He’s hunting us, he’s targeting out family.”

“You cannot ask this!” Neytiri was furious, her screams loud and forlorn.“The children, everything they’ve ever known, the forest! THIS IS OUR HOME!”

“He had our children. He had them under his knife.” Jake’s voice was hoarse and pleading, hushed tones hiding the deep hopelessness echoed in his words.

“My father gave me this bow as he lay dying, and he said ‘Protect the people’. You’re Toruk Makto!”

“This will protect the people!”Jake’s voice was raised now, no longer poised, no longer holding back. “Quaritch has Spider, and that kid knows EVERYTHING! He knows our whole operation. He could bring them right in here.”

You felt annoyed at how quick Jake was to assume Spider would betray this family, the only family he’s ever known. Spider was a loud mouth, and he was just as reckless as Lo’ak, but he had a good heart. A strong heart. He is loyal and loves the Sullys and this clan more than he loves his own life, and you thought Jake knew that.

“If the people harbour us, they will die. Do you understand?”

“Look, I’ve got nothing. I’ve got no plan. But I can protect this family. That I can do. And I do know one thing. Wherever we go, this family is our fortress.”

So many thoughts engulfed your mind, so many emotions flooded your being, one more extreme and agonising than the next, but almost like a joke brought about by the universe, the only thing that rang supreme was the realisation the Tiongli was going to get to be Tsa’hik after all.

Taglist (thank you ily x) @changing7 @erenjaegerwifee @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @winchestertitties @puffb4ll @rebeccao03 @ultimatebluff @cottoncandy23 @zaddyneteyamlovergirl @n3t3y4msm4t3 @loquatious-josephi-krakousky

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